Cabinet approves motion to amend some texts in Constitution

▲ President Lee Jae Myung (R) salutes the national flag during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on March 31, 2026. (Yonhap)

Cabinet-Constitution

Cabinet approves motion to amend some texts in Constitution

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, April 6 (Yonhap) -- The Cabinet approved a motion Monday to amend some texts in the Constitution, setting the stage for the National Assembly to vote on the proposed amendment and, if passed by lawmakers, the amendment will be put to a national referendum.

The move comes after 187 lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party and five minor parties jointly proposed the bill on Friday to tighten the requirements for declaring martial law and incorporate the spirit of past pro-democracy movements into the Constitution. The main opposition People Power Party has not joined the move.

With the Cabinet's approval, President Lee Jae Myung is required put up public notice of the proposed amendment for at least 20 days to give citizens time to review it.

The National Assembly is then required to vote on the bill within 60 days of the public notice, where it must secure a two-thirds majority to pass.

If the bill is approved between May 4-10, a national referendum could be held alongside the June 3 local elections. The amendment must win both a majority turnout and majority approval to be finalized.

The proposal aims to include the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju and the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests in the preamble. It currently states that the country inherits the spirit of the April 19 revolution in 1960, which overthrew the South Korea's first president, Rhee Syng-man, over election fraud.

The bill also seeks to tighten the requirements for declaring martial law, requiring the president to obtain parliamentary approval without delay and stipulating that if the National Assembly rejects the declaration or fails to approve it within 48 hours, the martial law will be immediately nullified.

Lee has expressed support for a phased, step-by-step amendment to the Constitution, last revised in 1987, to better reflect societal changes.

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