Moon to submit Constitution amendment bill on Monday

President Moon Jae-in’s constitutional amendment bill will be submitted to the National Assembly on Monday, according to the Blue House.

“The president gave orders to fully prepare to submit the Constitution amendment bill on March 26,” said Jin Sung-joon, a presidential political affairs secretary, on Monday. The presidential office also revealed plans for government reform. 

Jin added that the date was picked in light of the ruling Democratic Party’s request to guarantee the National Assembly the full 60-day review period.

According to Jin, Moon had considered submitting the bill after his return from a trip to Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates on March 28.

To ensure the public is informed about the bill, Moon ordered for it to be revealed to the public on Tuesday and to highlight different elements over a three-day period.

On Tuesday, elements of the bill concerning basic rights will be unveiled, followed by proposed revisions concerning strengthening local governments and sovereignty of the people on Wednesday.

Elements of the bill concerning government structure and the authority of government organizations will be made public Thursday.

As for the reform plans, the goal is to establish a government for the people, for which three strategies have been drawn up.

As part of the related plans, announced following the first government innovation strategy meeting in Seoul, the president will preside over the meeting twice a year, and concerned ministries will draw up detailed plans by April.

At the meeting, Moon emphasized the need for more transparency, saying that abuse of authority led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, and that the public demands a government that works for the people.

“As such, this government’s priority can be compressed into recovering the public nature of the government, and civil office,” Moon said.

“(Establishing) a government that truly exists of the people, a culture in the civil service that is truly a servant of the people, that is the foundation of the reform this government is pursuing.”

The three strategies are: focusing government operations on social values; increasing public participation in policymaking, implementation and assessment; and increasing public trust in the government.

The government hopes to raise the country’s quality of life and trust-in-government rankings among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations to the top 10 by 2022. The plans also aim for the country to rank among the top 20 in Transparency International’s corruption perception index.

According to Cheong Wa Dae, the country currently stands at 29th among OECD nations for quality of life, 32nd for trust in the government and 51st among 180 nations in the corruption perception index.

The plans also include 10 major projects including expanding government expenditure on programs related to safety, environment, welfare and human rights, and increasing the presence of women in the public sector.

The program regarding women in the public sector hopes to raise the proportion of female high-level civil servants to 10 percent and the proportion of female executives at state-run bodies to 20 percent by 2022. The program also aims to see the proportion of women on government committees raised to 40 percent.

The government also plans to establish a permanent channel for communication and policy suggestions by May, and increase public participation in monitoring the government budget.

Other programs outlined in Monday’s announcement include increasing public access to resources and information held by government organizations, and introducing a pan-government human resource management system.

The plans also include measures for cracking down on illegal means of finding employment, corruption involving incumbent and former government officials, and tougher measures against sex crimes.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)