Jeong Cheong-rae proposes 'National Party Dissolution Judgment Request Act', reflecting the spirit of the times

What is the spirit of the age?

When politics and legislation fail to reflect the spirit of the times, they are merely a theory detached from reality. The spirit of the times refers to the collective awareness and demands of the public regarding issues recognized within the historical, social, and political context of a specific period. It is not merely a trend or emotional flow but signifies the political urgency felt by the majority of the people and the need for institutional responses. The current political reality facing the Republic of Korea, namely the chaos following the December 3rd martial law situation, the investigation into allegations of internal conflict, and the public's distrust, as well as the constitutional responsibility of political parties, has established itself as a 'timely task' for the recovery of constitutional order rather than a simple political dispute. Within this historical backdrop, the 'Partial Amendment to the Constitutional Court Act' proposed by Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Cheong-rae is not merely a tool for the expansion of parliamentary authority or factional attacks, but an attempt to institutionally respond to the political crisis of contemporary South Korea. This bill is an attempt to translate the spirit of the times into legislation and is a political experiment aimed at the recovery of democracy and the realization of popular sovereignty.

Key points of the bill: Procedure reform, not political intervention

On July 15, 2025, Representative Jeong Cheong-rae introduced the 'National Party Dissolution Judgment Request Act (Amendment to the Constitutional Court Act)', which is designed to include the National Assembly's resolution in Article 55 of the current Constitutional Court Act. Previously, only the government could request a party dissolution judgment, but Representative Jeong's revision intends to insert the phrase, 'If the National Assembly passes a resolution in a plenary session, the government may request the Constitutional Court to dissolve a party after deliberation by the Cabinet.' A noteworthy aspect of the structure of this bill is that the government's independent judgment authority is maintained, while the National Assembly does not exercise the right to request but acts as a 'political facilitator' to convey the will of the people to the government. The bill does not infringe upon the government's right to request, nor does the National Assembly's resolution legally bind the government. However, it functions as a procedural safeguard that uses the political legitimacy of a majority vote in the National Assembly as a legitimate driving force for the request, encouraging the government to more responsibly respond to the demands of the people. This is not merely an attempt to expand authority or undermine the existing order, but a restrained institutional design aimed at realizing popular sovereignty. It does not directly violate the 'government's right to request' as stipulated in Article 8 of the Constitution and can be interpreted as a structure that aligns with the spirit of the Constitution by simultaneously guaranteeing political accountability and administrative autonomy.

Why It Matters Now: Accountability Politics for Constitutional Destruction

The bill proposed by Congressman Jeong Cheong-rae not only possesses theoretical legitimacy but also accurately reflects the political reality faced by South Korea in 2025. The state of emergency declared on December 3, 2024, raised suspicions that former President Yoon Seok-yeol exceeded his constitutional authority to impose martial law and attempted to seize control of the National Assembly by mobilizing soldiers. In particular, the collective absence of members of the ruling People Power Party from the plenary session and their interference in the resolution for lifting the martial law raised public doubts about whether they were complicit in paralyzing the functions of the National Assembly. This incident posed a serious question about whether it was merely a political act or if a political party was systematically involved in an insurrection aimed at undermining the constitutional powers of the National Assembly and destroying constitutional order. If the investigation into insurrection against former President Yoon reveals a structural connection to the People Power Party, it will transition from a matter of political responsibility to one of constitutional accountability. In this context, the public petition calling for the dissolution of the People Power Party garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures in just a few days. Civic groups initiated a campaign urging dissolution, and progressive parties along with many ruling party lawmakers submitted petitions to the Ministry of Justice demanding a judicial review of the dissolution. The public has already made a political judgment, and the National Assembly has entered a phase where it must devise a responsible legislative response. Congressman Jeong Cheong-rae's bill has gained necessity as a formal response to the desire for the restoration of constitutional order.

Meaning of Legislation as the Spirit of the Times

Dissolution of political parties is the most extreme sanction in a democratic society, but there exists a principle that only parties with constitutional legitimacy are recognized as agents of democracy. Article 8, Section 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states, 'When the objectives or activities of a political party violate democratic fundamental order, the government may request its dissolution.' This provision is not merely a theoretical declaration, but it has left a concrete precedent with the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party in 2014. At that time, the charges of insurrection conspiracy against lawmakers like Lee Seok-gi became the key basis for the Constitutional Court's decision to dissolve the party. The bill proposed by Jeong Cheong-rae does not simply follow this precedent, but attempts to provide a more structural and institutional complement. In the past, there was a need to rely solely on the government's independent judgment, but now it takes the will of the majority of the public, expressed through the National Assembly's resolution, as a systematic requirement to strengthen the legitimacy of the request and enhance the government's accountability. This serves as a clear model of how the legislative branch should reflect the spirit of the times. In other words, it is an act of finding balance among the will of the people, political responsibility, and constitutional order, rather than merely addressing technical legal issues. The Jeong Cheong-rae bill operates as a constitutional institutional experiment that can actualize the sovereignty of the people while maintaining the principle of separation of powers.

Examples of translating the spirit of the times into legislation

The bill proposed by Representative Jeong Cheong-rae should not be diminished as a political offensive by the ruling party to suppress the opposition. This bill is an attempt to institutionally gather the political will of the people within the framework of the Constitution, rather than infringing on the government's authority or transforming the National Assembly into a subject with a right to claim. The assertion that the People Power Party must disappear is a constitutional response to a threat to popular sovereignty, rather than a partisan sentiment. If the People Power Party turns a blind eye to its responsibility during the martial law situation and resists measures to restore democracy, its existence may be regarded as an obstacle to constitutional order rather than a legitimate political party. The law is not merely a tool for interpreting reality. Sometimes it becomes a tool for creating a new political reality and structuring the spirit of the times. Representative Jeong Cheong-rae's bill is precisely that example. It is an attempt to legalize citizens' anger and fulfill the self-responsibility that representative democracy must carry. If the National Assembly fails to gather the people's will and the government makes exclusive judgments, it degrades into a mechanism of bureaucracy rather than a tool of democracy. This bill proposes a healthy democratic circuit where the people's will is conveyed to the government through the National Assembly and institutionally completed through the Constitutional Court's judgment. This is not merely one legislative proposal but a restoration of constitutional politics that revives the self-defensive function of democracy.

Conclusion: The Need for Institutional Solutions and the Spirit of the Times

In conclusion, Representative Jeong Cheong-rae's bill is a restrained and clear piece of legislation that does not go beyond the Constitution, does not distort the will of the people, and seeks to respond to the spirit of the times. If the role of legislation is to listen to the spirit of the times and structure it, this bill can be seen as a representative example of fulfilling that role faithfully. The bill directly asks how the National Assembly and legislation will respond to the people's demand for a decisive constitutional response to the forces threatening democracy today. Representative Jeong Cheong-rae's bill is the most honest political language that seeks to bridge the gap between the Constitution, the people, and politics, and it is the clearest expression of the spirit of the times.