< Constitutional Statement
on the Mandate of the Sovereign Citizens. >
The constitutional order of the Republic of Korea is founded
upon the principle of popular sovereignty.
The legitimacy of all state institutions derives exclusively from the mandate of the citizens, and
any deviation from this mandate constitutes a breach of constitutional responsibility.
Recent developments in national governance reveal a series of structural and constitutional concerns:
1. The suspension of the legislative branch’s ongoing reform process represents
an institutional delay of the sovereign citizens’ mandate.
2. The executive branch’s unilateral advancement of legislation that
contradicts the public demand for reform constitutes a deviation
from the constitutional principle of accountability to the citizenry.
3. The statutory requirement of a 165‑day executive legislative procedure creates
a structural delay that weakens the momentum of reform at a critical juncture.
4. The scheduling of supplementary legislation—
specifically the amendment to Article 162 of the Criminal Procedure Act—nearly one year later disperses and diminishes the reform mandate entrusted by the citizens.
These developments collectively undermine the principle of popular sovereignty and
erode the constitutional legitimacy of governance.
State institutions exist to implement the mandate of the sovereign citizens;
any exercise of power that contradicts this mandate forfeits its democratic legitimacy.
The legislative branch has already completed
the reform bill currently pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.
Accordingly,
irrespective of the executive branch’s anti‑reform initiative,
it is both institutionally feasible and constitutionally required for the legislature
to fulfill the citizens’ reform mandate independently.
In the name of the sovereign citizens, the following is affirmed:
* Constitutional Affirmations.
• The National Assembly must not be subordinated to executive‑driven delays.
The passage of the reform legislation before the Lunar New Year constitutes a constitutional obligation.
• The anti‑reform bill submitted by the executive contradicts the will of the citizens;
its natural dissolution through the legislature’s timely enactment of the reform bill aligns with constitutional principles.
• Democratic reform in the Republic of Korea is not the interest of any particular political faction but
a constitutional commitment to the future of all citizens.
The legislature must therefore uphold the mandate of the sovereign citizens
as its highest institutional priority.
• Any authority that defies the mandate of the sovereign citizens relinquishes its legitimacy.
The restoration and preservation of constitutional order begin with the legislature’s prompt enactment of the reform legislation.
The democracy of the Republic of Korea can be sustained only through the will of its citizens.
At this moment,
the responsibility to fulfill the promise of reform rests with the legislative branch.
This is the constitutional mandate of the sovereign citizens.