Prospects for Constitutional Reform in the Republic of Korea in the mid-2020s

Before the 2025 elections in the Republic of Korea (ROK), both leading presidential candidates put forward proposals to amend the electoral block of the country’s Constitution. Unlike in previous years, when talk of changing the number of presidential terms was perceived by society as a method of distracting the masses from the real problems of the state, this time the amendment of the Constitution was widely discussed, largely in the context of the political crisis of 2024–2025. The article aims to reveal the reasons for the increased relevance of constitutional reform in the Republic of Korea in the mid-2020s, to compare the options proposed by the main political figures, and to determine the prospects for changing the ROK’s Basic Law in the medium and long term. The authors apply historical and comparative research methods. The article concludes that the political crisis of 2024–2025 highlighted a number of problematic elements in the ROK’s Constitution, whose electoral bloc no longer meets the demands of the time. However, the Democratic Party, which has come to power, is postponing the revision of the Basic Law, guided by the short-term interests of the political struggle. At the same time, unresolved issues of interaction between the executive and legislative branches of power lay the foundation for new crises, keeping the task of modernizing the country’s Constitution on the agenda. Further prospects for introducing amendments with the aim of creating a more stable system of presidential power focused on long-term results will largely depend on the development of the domestic political situation.