AIR POUCH
CONFIDENTIAL (Security Classification)
FOREIGN SERVICE DESPATCH
FROM : Amembassy SEOUL
TO : THE DEPARTMENTS OF STATE, WASHINGTON.
DESP. NO. 669
DATE June1, 1960
REF :
SUBJECT : The Constitutional Amendment
SUMMARY
The draft amendment to the ROK Constitution submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly by a special nine-man House Committee on May 11 establishes a more or less standard cabinet system of government to replace the discredited presidential system under which the ROK has been governed since its inception in 1948. The President himself is arripped of virtually all the extensive powers he exercised under the old regime and assumes an essentially figurehead role. He is to be elected indirectly by the Assembly. Real power rests with the Prime Minister who becomes head of government. The Assembly is to be bicameral, with the Lower House, which has the power of overturning a government by a non-confidence vote, by far the stronger of the two. The constitutional provisions dealing with civil rights have been extensively re-written and strengthened in the amendment, as has the independence of the judiciary. Other noteworthy features of the amendment are the establishment of an independent Constitutional Court, provisions for expended local autonomy, and stipulations recurring the neutrality of the police.
Attached to the constitutional amendment proper are fifteen addenda which provide a timetable for the implementation of the amendment and also include provisions establishing arrangements of the translational period before the new amendment becomes fully effective. They provide inter alia that the first general election for the new House of Representatives shall be held within 45 days of the promulgation of the amendment and for a continuance of the Interim Government until these elections are held and a new government installed.
In many respects, the constitutional amendment represents an effort to create safeguards against the abuses which had characterized the Rhee regime. This is evident both in the decision to adopt the cabinet system and in the provisions to better ensure the protection of civil rights. It remains to be seen, of course, whether a constitution written to such a great extent with a view toward preventing a repetition of the abuses experienced in the past will succeed in providing a framework for a government which are effectively fulfill the aspirations of the Korean people. Whether Korean political leaders will be able, over the next few years, to develop the maturity and integrity necessary for the successful implementation of the relatively more sophisticated political structure they are now establishing is a question which as study of the amendment itself can answer.
Background and Introduction
On the afternoon of April 26, the ROK National Assembly adopted a resolution which embodied in its final two points what has come to he the basic formula for the settlement of the political crisis brought about by the fraudulent March 15 presidential and vice presidential elections, the April protest demonstrations, and the subsequent collapse of the Syngman Rhee regime. The formula calls for the amendment of the Constitution by the incumbent Assembly to provide for a cabinet system of government, and for the holding of general elections for a new House of Representatives immediately following the passage of this amendment. It also provides for an interim cabinet to hold the reins of government until the amendment process and thee subsequent House elections are completed. At the present time, a month after it was first devised, the formula appears to have won at least the tacit approval of the majority of the Korean people as an acceptable method for establishing a framework conducive to the satisfaction of their grievances.
The passage of the April 26 resolution came just a few hours after President RHEE has announced his capitulation and had pledged to accept a cabinet system if the people wanted it. Primarily the work of the Democratic Party (DP), it marked the beginning of that minority party's ascendancy is the House and of its leadership in charting the course of reform legislation.
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- Although the resolution was passed by a unanimous voice vote, only slightly more than half the Assemblyman were in the chamber when the vote was taken. Hard faction Liberals were conspicuously absent, and Democratic Representatives were probably in the majority.
The Assembly moved promptly to implement the resolution, and of April 29 an impressive nine-man special committee was established to draft the constitutional amendment. Comprising four Democrats, four Liberals, and an independent, it included such well-known political figures as Democratic Party Assemblymen OM Sang-sop and CHO Chae-ch'on, Liberal "reformists" CHONG Un-gap and PAK Se-gyong, and Assembly Vice Speaker YI Chae-hak. Assemblyman OM was selected committee chairman, and was succeeded on his untimely death a few days later by another Democrat, CHONG Hon-ju.
[이하 p.3~p.10 판독불가]
