Lee voices need to revise outdated Constitution, says assembly should take lead

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday voiced the need to revise what he described as the outdated Constitution, but said the revision should be led by the National Assembly through bipartisan efforts.

Lee made the remarks at a lunch meeting at Cheong Wa Dae with the leadership of the Parliamentarian's Society, an association of former lawmakers, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.

"Given the contemporary environment, the current Constitution is somehow like a cloth that does not fit contemporary society," the president was quoted as saying.

He voiced the need to revise the Constitution but noted a constitutional revision led by the president may not be welcomed by the public, according to Kang.

The president also highlighted the "high barrier" posed by the required consent of two-thirds of lawmakers to revise the Constitution, stressing that the most desirable way would be for the National Assembly to revise the Constitution through a bipartisan agreement.

The South Korean Constitution has remained unchanged since its last revision in 1987. Lee has called for a shift from the current single five-year presidential term to a four-year, two-term system through a constitutional revision.

The National Assembly, where Lee's Democratic Party holds a majority, put a constitutional amendment bill to a vote in May, but the bill was scuttled amid an opposition boycott.