(ATTN: UPDATES with more remarks from 5th para; ADDS photos)
SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung on Friday called on the National Assembly to push for a constitutional revision, saying the spirit of the country's democratization movements should be reflected in the Constitution.
Lee made the call in a speech at a ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests against then President Park Chung-hee's dictatorship, also known as the Buma uprising.
"Reflecting the Buma democratization uprising and the Gwangju democratization movement in the preamble to the Constitution is the smallest measure we need to not forget the blood-stained history of defending South Korea's democracy and people's sovereignty," the president said.
"On this occasion, I once again request that the National Assembly begin gathering public opinions and holding reasonable discussions on constitutional reform," he said.
President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech at a ceremony in the southeastern city of Busan on Oct. 16, 2026, marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Lee's call comes after a ruling Democratic Party (DP)-proposed amendment failed to pass the National Assembly in May.
The president has repeatedly stressed the need for a constitutional amendment aimed at changing the country's presidential system from the current single five-year term to two four-year terms, while calling the Constitution "outdated." The Constitution was last revised in 1987.
In his renewed call for a constitutional revision, Lee focused on the need to highlight the country's history of democratization.
"It is our responsibility to inscribe the sublime spirit and history in our minds and pass them on to next generations," the president said, pledging efforts to restore the honor of those who suffered undue harm from state violence.
"The Republic of Korea for next generations should be a country in which no one has to give up or sacrifice their lives to defend democracy ... a true democracy in which those in power fear the public," the president said.
In 1979, students and citizens in the southeastern city of Busan and the nearby city of Masan, now part of Changwon, rose up against then President Park's dictatorship for several days. Military and police forces brutally cracked down on protesters, with more than a hundred arrested and some of them reportedly tortured.
South Korea began officially commemorating the uprising in 2019.
President Lee Jae Myung (front row, 5th from L) pledges allegiance to the national flag during a ceremony in the southeastern city of Busan on Oct. 16, 2026, marking the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
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