May 19, 2026
SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung pledged Monday to “definitively” cement the spirit of the May 18 Democratic Movement in the Constitution and ensure recognition for overlooked pro-democracy participants with no family to file applications on their behalf.
Lee made the remarks Monday at the ceremony commemorating the 46th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement held at May 18 Democracy Square in Gwangju, which he attended with first lady Kim Hea Kyung.
The president reaffirmed his commitment to pursuing a phased constitutional revision after an earlier attempt to hold a referendum on the amendment fell through. If successful, it would have marked the country’s first constitutional revision in 39 years since 1987.
“We will do everything in our power to definitively enshrine the spirit of May 18 in the preamble of the Constitution,” Lee said in his address before around 3,000 participants.
“The spirit of May, both the driving force that affirmed popular sovereignty and a source of immense pride in modern Korean history, must take firmer root in our society.”
To that end, Lee underlined that the democratic ideals of the May 18 Democratic Movement should be “proudly inscribed” in the Constitution’s preamble.
The proposed amendment seeks to revise the Constitution’s preamble to include the spirit of both the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Movement of 1980 and the Busan-Masan Democratic Movement of 1979. It also aims to strengthen National Assembly oversight of the president’s power to declare martial law to prevent a recurrence of an illegal martial law declaration.
Lee also called on the ruling and opposition parties to join the constitutional revision efforts, after the Assembly failed in early May to put the amendment bill to a vote due to a lack of quorum, following a boycott by the main opposition People Power Party.
The Assembly vote was required to hold a referendum on constitutional revision concurrently with the local and by-elections on June 3, a timeline opposed by the People Power Party.
“As this has long been a promise to the people shared across the political spectrum beyond partisan interests, I earnestly ask for bipartisan cooperation and resolve from both the ruling and opposition parties,” Lee said.
The bill, proposed by six parties including the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and signed by 187 lawmakers, would require approval from at least two-thirds of all sitting lawmakers to pass. With 286 lawmakers currently in office, at least 191 votes are needed for passage, meaning at least 12 People Power Party lawmakers would have to support the bill.
Lee also pledged to create a government-led system to recognize May 18 pro-democracy participants whose contributions have gone unacknowledged because they have no immediate family members to apply on their behalf, saying, “not a single sacrifice is ever overlooked.”
Lee cited the case of the late Yang Chang-geun, a first-year high school student who joined the May 1980 protests and died after being shot by martial law forces.
Yang has not yet been fully recognized as a person of national merit involved in the May 18 Democratization Movement because he has no immediate family who could apply for registration on his behalf.
“Now, the government will serve as a family member of each and every victim of state violence,” Lee said. “The nation will fulfill its duties to the very end, ensuring that not a single person who worked to safeguard democracy and the homeland with an indomitable spirit is left alone.”
Following the ceremony, Lee visited the former South Jeolla Provincial Government building, which officially reopened Monday after restoration to mark the May 18 Democratic Movement. The site is regarded as one of the most symbolic locations of the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Movement, where residents and students mounted their final resistance against the military crackdown led by the then-new military regime of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980.
The resistance in Gwangju, despite overwhelming state repression, later became a driving force for South Korea’s broader democratization movement throughout the 1980s. This culminated in the June Democratic Movement of 1987, which helped end military dictatorship and paved the way for the country’s current system of direct presidential elections.
A four-year government truth commission investigation, which concluded in 2024, found that 166 civilians were killed, 2,617 injured and 179 reported missing during the May 18 Democratization Movement.