(3rd LD) Parliament fails to pass constitutional amendment bill amid PPP boycott

▲ The National Assembly holds a plenary session to vote on a ruling party-led bill on a constitutional amendment amid a boycott from the main opposition party in Seoul on May 7, 2026. (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) parliament-constitutional amendment

(3rd LD) Parliament fails to pass constitutional amendment bill amid PPP boycott

(ATTN: UPDATES with passage of aviation safety bill in last 4 paras)

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- A ruling Democratic Party (DP)-led bill on a constitutional amendment was scuttled Thursday as the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) boycotted a parliamentary vote on the proposal.

The National Assembly convened a plenary session at 2 p.m., but only 178 lawmakers participated in the vote as PPP lawmakers boycotted the session, falling short of the required quorum of 191.

In the 300-member parliament with 14 currently vacant seats, a minimum two thirds of the 286 occupied seats are required for a vote on a bill to change the Constitution, as well as its passage.

The ruling party currently holds 152 seats, while the main opposition PPP controls 106.

The proposed bill seeks to tighten the rules 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.

It also 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 South Korea's first president, Rhee Syng-man, over election fraud.

The bill was jointly proposed by 187 lawmakers from the DP and five minor parties.

The National Assembly plans to hold another plenary session Friday for another attempt at a vote.

If approved by May 10, a national referendum could be held alongside the June 3 local elections. A constitutional amendment must win both a majority turnout and majority approval in a referendum to be finalized.

The presidential office expressed "disappointment and regret" over the scuttled vote, while urging the opposition party to take part in Friday's vote.

"Lawmakers of the PPP should participate in the vote without fail with a sense of responsibility as constitutional institutions, as another plenary session will be convened tomorrow," spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.

"The government will consider ways to accomplish a constitutional revision within the legal and institutional framework," she added.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly passed a revision to the Aviation Safety Act, toughening punishment for unauthorized drone flights in no-fly zones, following a recent series of civilian drone flights into North Korea.

Under the revised law, individuals who fly ultra-light aircraft in no-fly zones without government approval can be punished with a prison sentence.

The move comes after prosecutors in March indicted three civilians over the alleged unapproved flights between last September and January this year. Pyongyang had earlier accused Seoul of infringing its sovereignty with drone flights.

The unification ministry, tasked with inter-Korean affairs, said actions that "artificially" heighten tensions in the skies above the Korean Peninsula must be stopped with the passage of the legal revision.

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