87년 헌법의 역사화와 시대적 소명

The 1987 constitution, the 9th revised constitution, has been studied from the perspective of the democratization of Korea. It has largely been regarded as a “democratic” constitution with minor problems. The constitutional reform of 1987 was made possible by democratization and the “June 29th Announcement” by the ruling party presidential candidate Roh Tae Woo. The 1987 constitution granted greater protection of civil rights and a direct presidential election. However, this study reveals that, in comparison to the 1980 constitutional draft, the 1987 constitution is more undemocratic in several ways. The constitution was formed behind closed doors in the so-called “meeting of eight,” comprised of 4 members of the ruling Democratic Justice Party and 4 members of the opposition Unification Democratic Party. With the unyielding demand of the opposition party, the national assembly’s Constitutional Revision Committee could do nothing but make the compromises between the big two parties official, excluding other political parties and forces from the table of constitutional reform. As soon as the opposition party became more likely to grasp power, Kim Young-sam, its president, intentionally accepted the continued existence of several problematic clauses of the old constitution, considering presidential power after his seize of power. These clauses supported the dictatorial system during “the Fifth Republic” and “the Yusin regime” by giving the President authoritative power above the three branches of government. The model for the “democratic” 1987 constitution was the constitution of the “Third Republic,” which justified the military coup led by Park Chung-hee and opened the dictatorial period from 1961 to 1987. Even Kim Dae-jung, the longstanding leader of democratization movement, preserved the third-republic constitution in order not to lose the opportunities to come to power.