President Lee commemorates 1979 democratic protests, urges Constitutional amendment

이 대통령 "부마항쟁•광주민주화운동 헌법에 담아야… 국회 조속히 나서주길" A commemoration ceremony was held today to honor democratic protests in the country 47 years ago. President Lee Jae Myung once again urged for the need to include the spirit of key democratic movements in the nation's Constitution, for which he called for parliamentary cooperation. Yoon Jung-min reports. A cornerstone that served to advance the nation's democracy. That's how President Lee Jae Myung described the 1979 democratic protests that broke out in the country's southeastern cities of Busan and Masan, as he addressed its 47th anniversary commemoration ceremony on Friday. "The cries and spirit in Busan and Masan were passed to Gwangju in 1980, to the June Democratic Movement in 1987, then to the 'candlelight revolution' and the December 3 'revolution of light.'" Stressing that the democracy is not taken for granted, he added that the freedom to directly vote people's representatives or to criticize the government and people in power is something that has not been fully enjoyed by the people for that long. Lee renewed his call for the need to change the Constitution to ensure that the spirit is passed on to the next generation. "Reflecting the Busan-Masan democratic protests and the Gwangju democratic movement in the preamble of the Constitution is the minimum measure that we can take to ensure that the bloodstained history of our people's struggle to defend democracy and their sovereignty is not forgotten." For that, he asked for parliamentary cooperation to reflect public opinion and start discussions. "It is what the political circle has been calling for in unison, both the ruling and opposition parties alike, around the time of commemoration. Now is the time for action, not words." As the president vowed to restore the honor of the victims of state violence, a moment was caught where he showed his emotion. "As I deeply honor the noble wishes of so many people who devoted their lives to democracy in this land " The day commemorates democratic protests in 1979 that resisted the 'Yushin' regime by then-President Park Chung-hee who abolished direct elections through Constitutional amendment. Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News. #SouthKorea #Government #Democratic_protests #Constitutional #대한민국 #정부 #국회 #부마항쟁 #광주_민주화_운동 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Youtube :    / Канал   📣 Homepage : https://v2.arirang.com/ 2026-10-16, 17:00 (KST)