COVER STORY Lee says he has 'no intention whatsoever' of seeking reelection

President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that he has “no intention whatsoever” of seeking reelection, drawing a clear line between his push for a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve consecutive terms and his own political future.

“Under the Constitution, it is impossible for me to seek reelection through a constitutional amendment and I have repeatedly made clear through various channels that I have never even considered seeking reelection,” Lee said during a press conference at Cheong Wa Dae.

He dismissed demands that he explicitly pledge not to seek another term as a “political offensive,” saying they were intended to create the impression that he had considered reelection before abandoning the idea.

“Nevertheless, I want to make it absolutely clear once again on this occasion,” Lee said. “I have no intention whatsoever of seeking reelection.”

Lee has long advocated revising the Constitution to allow presidents to serve consecutive terms, arguing that such a system would ensure greater policy continuity and stability in state affairs. The proposal has drawn criticism from the opposition, which has questioned whether Lee could seek to benefit personally from such an amendment and demanded that he explicitly rule out serving a second term.

He nevertheless reiterated his support for the revision, calling the current Constitution, adopted in 1987, “clothes that no longer fit today’s Korea.”

Lee cited several areas for possible revision, including adding references to the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Movement and the Busan-Masan Democratic Protests to the preamble, strengthening basic rights, transferring some presidential powers to the National Assembly and local governments and introducing the possibility of a consecutive-term presidency.

He said the Assembly and the public should take the lead in the process, rather than the president, pledging to cooperate if parties could reach an agreement after surveying public opinion.

Lee also sought to distance himself from a separate controversy over calls to drop charges in cases allegedly stemming from politically motivated investigations, including cases involving himself.

He said allegations that prosecutions might be fabricated or politically motivated should be investigated by a special counsel, arguing that having investigative agencies under the president handle them could raise questions about impartiality.

However, he opposed giving special counsels authority over the disposition of cases that have already been indicted.

Lee asked the Assembly to remove provisions concerning the transfer or disposition of existing cases from the proposed special counsel’s mandate and to focus solely on uncovering the facts.

“I regret that the issue has unnecessarily become a political controversy and is obscuring the essence of the matter,” he said, asking lawmakers to avoid further strife over the issue.

The president also struck a contrite tone over a recent decline in his approval ratings, saying he had concluded that the problem ultimately stemmed from his own shortcomings.

“I lacked consideration, attention to detail and communication,” Lee said. He acknowledged that he had at times failed to fully recognize the frustration of people adversely affected by his policies. “Perhaps I did not show enough respect for the public," he said.

A Gallup Korea poll released Friday put Lee’s approval rating at 37 percent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week and the lowest since he took office. His disapproval rating rose 5 points to 56 percent. Real estate policy was the most frequently cited reason for a negative assessment, followed by personnel appointments and the economy.

Parties clash over reelection pledge

The rival parties offered sharply different responses to Lee’s remarks on reelection and constitutional revision.

Main opposition People Power Party (PPP) leader Jang Dong-hyeok questioned why Lee stopped short of making an explicit pledge not to seek another term.

“He said he has ‘no intention whatsoever of seeking reelection,’” Jang wrote on Facebook. “Is it really that difficult to make a clear declaration that he ‘will not seek reelection’?”

PPP senior spokesperson Park Choong-kwon made a similar point, saying that if Lee had no intention of seeking reelection, “all he had to do was promise that he would not,” rather than dismissing the opposition’s demand as a “political offensive.”

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) countered that Lee’s remarks had removed the PPP’s stated justification for opposing constitutional revision.

“The president himself has made clear that he will not seek reelection,” DPK floor spokesperson Jeon Eun-su said. “There is now no justification for the PPP to reject constitutional revision.” She urged the opposition party to “immediately come to the table and take part in discussion on constitutional revision.”

The poll was conducted from Tuesday to Thursday through telephone interviews with 1,002 adults aged 18 and older, using randomly selected mobile phone numbers. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level, with a contact rate of 45.4 percent and a response rate of 9.9 percent.

Further details are available on the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.