President Lee Jae-myung said on the 15th that critics can set aside what he called conspiracy theories claiming constitutional reform is meant to extend his own term or reshape the political landscape.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, the president said amending the constitution requires the consent of at least 200 National Assembly members, including those from the People Power Party. "I cannot amend the constitution as I wish, and there is no reason they would amend it in terms favorable to me," he wrote. "The parliamentary system or semi-presidential system that some worry about is not the direction of reform I prefer."
Lee shared a post from a supporter who wrote: "Your goals have changed. I worry about constitutional reform, and I worry that reform will be neutralized. I supported you, and now I feel empty." In response, the president said he has become a leader who must represent everyone rather than a segment of the public and his supporters, and who must take ultimate responsibility for every decision. "The process, methods and means of reaching my goals have become more pragmatic and more cautious, but the goals themselves have not changed," he said.
He added that reform is proceeding faster than promised and has produced considerable results in little more than a year. "If anything, we have pursued so many reform tasks all at once that some point to reform overload or reform fatigue," he said.
"Whatever I say now may be hard to accept, but as time passes and concrete results emerge, views may change," he said.
Lee pushed back directly against doubts about his commitment to prosecution reform, saying he was the biggest victim of the previous administration and of what he called a lawless faction of politically driven prosecutors. "Investigation and indictment are essential functions for maintaining social order, and competent investigative and prosecutorial organizations are necessary," he said. "A number of tainted prosecutors are the problem, but not all prosecutors are tainted, and there are prosecutors who serve the public and the nation selflessly."
"Essential state institutions and systems must not be dismantled or neutralized simply because they have problems or because harm has been done," he said. "Substantive and pragmatic reform means keeping these functions working properly while minimizing side effects and the potential for abuse."
He also noted that investigative authority has been stripped entirely from prosecutors and that investigation and indictment functions have been separated into different agencies to check each other. "Now the important task is making the system function properly," he said. "If people show a little more patience and lend their strength, we can move closer to the world of shared prosperity that everyone hopes for."