The Prime Minister in Korean and Thai Constitutions

The separation of powers has been regarded as principle of organization of the State’s powers. The Prime Minister system was introduced in Korean Constitutions for the purpose of controlling the power of the President in 1948. In Thai Constitutions, it was introduced when there was a change in the county's government system from the absolute monarchy system to the democratic system in 1932. The Prime Minister system was one of main topics in Korean and Thai constitutional revisions. In Korea, the status and powers of the Prime Minister were changed according to the forms of government. Under a pure or neopresidential system (1954 – 1960, 1962 - 1987) the Prime Minister played a administrative role as a simple assistant organ of the President. Under a parliamesidry system of government (1960 – 1961) the former played not onorma administrative role but also a political role as Head of the Administration. Under a mixted system of government (1948 – 1954, 1987 - ) his role was up to the President’s political philosophy or the parliamentary majority. In Thai, although a parliamentary system of government was always maintained in Constitutional revisions, the Prime Minister system worked differently and could be classified in three types: anti-democracy, semi-democracy and democracy, which had been circulated one by one. No matter how the governments were established by election or by military Coup d’Etat, the Prime Minister had a strong power. In Korea, a new constitutional revision is asked about the relationship between the President and the Prime Minister, we have actually no consensus about that. For the time being, the Thai Constitution of 2007 could contribute to keeping the balance between the political powers in reality.