No plans to step down early: Roh Moo

SEOUL, Jan 11: South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun denied today that he would agree to step down early in exchange for opposition support for his proposal to change the constitution so that future leaders could serve for two terms.

On Tuesday Roh proposed dropping the current limit of a single five-year mandate to allow two four-year terms, but opposition parties refused to discuss the change which would need parliamentary backing before being put to a national referendum.

''I will not be shortening my term,'' Roh told a televised news conference, in response to a question on whether he would quit in return for other parties backing the proposal.

''I will not say that a rejection of the constitutional change would be a vote of no-confidence against me.'' Because he was elected under the existing constitution, the change would have no effect on Roh whose term ends early in 2008.

Roh said the one-term limit had been adopted ''on a whim'' 20 years ago after decades of authoritarian rule, and it was now time for a change to reflect South Korea's more mature democracy.

Opinion polls show the public generally in favour of dropping the one-term limit but a majority do not want the constitution changed while Roh is still in office.

Commentators said Roh, whose popularity rating is barely above 10 percent, might have made his last year in office even more awkward by making the proposal now.

They said he was trying to change an electoral system that had routinely sapped power from presidents in their final year in office. With Roh in his last year, they said, he had little hope of pushing through any major changes.

''He seems to think if he quacks loudly enough people will not realise that he is a lame duck,'' the mainstream JoongAng Ilbo daily said in an editorial.

REUTERS