South Korea Eyes Constitutional Reform Alongside Local Elections

South Korea is preparing for a potential constitutional referendum to be held concurrently with the local elections in June 2026, or potentially during the 2028 National Assembly elections. The move, spearheaded by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, aims to modernize the nation’s basic law, which has remained largely unchanged since 1987.

Push for Constitutional Revision

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik has proposed a phased approach to constitutional reform, focusing initially on areas where consensus is most likely. A key priority is strengthening controls over emergency martial law declarations, specifically requiring National Assembly approval within 48 hours of such a declaration to prevent its automatic validity. He also advocates for enshrining the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Uprising in the constitution’s preamble and addressing regional imbalances, aligning with the significance of the upcoming local elections.

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice has also launched a campaign to push for local political reform and decentralization ahead of the June 3rd local elections, criticizing the current state of local politics as a “proxy war and subordinate organization of central politics.”

Key Proposed Reforms

Several key reforms are under consideration, categorized into three main areas:

Electoral System and Political Party Nominations

• Substantialization of the central constituency system and expansion of proportional representation: Expanding proportional representation in local councils by 20-30%, banning the splitting of 2-member constituencies, legislating 3-5 member constituencies, abolishing preference ordering systems and allowing the establishment of local political parties.
• Preventing elections without voting: Abolishing provisions for election without a vote, mandating approval voting for and against candidates, and abolishing prohibitions on campaigning for expected winners.
• Democratizing nominations: Mandating full disclosure of the nomination process, prohibiting National Assembly members from concurrently chairing regional committees, requiring at least 50% of nomination committee members to be external, and enacting a bottom-up citizen nomination system.

Activating Direct Resident Participation

• Easing barriers to resident initiatives: Significantly easing requirements for recall, referendum, and resident ordinance proposals, and establishing sanctions for non-review of resident proposals.
• Strengthening budget monitoring: Relaxing requirements for resident audit requests, mandating compliance with audit deadlines, abolishing preconditions for audit requests, and expanding litigation targets.

Establishing Substantial Autonomy and Fiscal Decentralization

• Restoring local council check functions: Enacting the Local Council Act, ensuring complete independence from the head of the organization, granting budgetary and organizational rights, and amending the constitution to guarantee comprehensive autonomous legislative rights.
• Breaking down fake decentralization: Completely abolishing the special allocation tax and converting it to ordinary allocation tax, reforming the national-local tax ratio to 75:25, and legally guaranteeing taxation autonomy.
• Comprehensive transfer of authority: Abolishing the “stick-and-run” transfer law, comprehensively transferring financial and personnel rights, converting delegated affairs to autonomous affairs, and legally mandating direct resident monitoring.
• Independent audit system: Mandating majority citizen participation in investment review committees, establishing criteria for inappropriateness, mandating personnel hearings for heads of local government-affiliated organizations, and establishing a citizen audit committee independent from organizational heads.

Concerns and Opposition

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice is opposing what it deems “fake decentralization” through deregulation, specifically opposing forced administrative integration without a referendum and rejecting pre-tax exemption provisions. They are also critical of civil development agendas that prioritize private interests over public benefit, such as new city development without financial safeguards and private industrial complex development.

Timeline and Requirements

To proceed with the referendum alongside the local elections, the National Assembly must establish a Special Committee on Constitutional Revision and submit a proposal by April 7, 2026, at least 60 days before the vote. Passing a constitutional amendment requires at least 200 votes – two-thirds of all National Assembly members – meaning support from at least 20 members of the People Power Party is needed beyond the ruling bloc’s 180 votes.

Cho Kuk, leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, has also emphasized the demand for political reform before the local elections to broaden the foundation of a government based on popular sovereignty, calling for the adoption of three- to five-member electoral districts to address population disparities.