In September 2025, the Lee Jae-myung administration's 123 major national tasks were announced.
The first of these is a constitutional amendment for the ‘real Republic of Korea.’
But if constitutional amendment is truly necessary, what should it be for? A bold constitutional amendment is needed not only to legally eliminate the possibility of a coup and strengthen democratic control over judicial power, but also to address complex crises such as the climate crisis, the care crisis, the rise of an aging society, deepening wealth and regional inequality, the risks of AI technological transition, the rise of the far right, and the US-China hegemony conflict.
The focus and value of this book lies in the authors' presentation of a new national vision (the fundamental prosperity values ​​of the national community) to address the crisis of democracy and the complex crisis situation.
The authors argue that these values, which are the republicanization of society, the construction of a caring society, and the establishment of a green nation, should become the fundamental values ​​of the new constitution and the republic, and the values ​​of the times.


The author of the 'Republic' section emphasizes the need for republican democracy to overcome the limitations of history that has focused solely on 'democratization', and presents three core principles of democratic republicanism: politics of the common good, a desire for equality of dignity, and expansion of civic participation.
In the 'care' section, the 'basic' of 'a society with strong fundamentals', one of the current government's national goals, is discussed in the language of 'care'.
Recognizing that care is a value urgently needed in our current society, where inequality, competition, discrimination and hatred, and the deepening climate crisis are simultaneously occurring, we propose constitutional enshrinement of the value of care and laws and systems for building a caring society.
Meanwhile, the authors of the 'Green' section begin by examining the historical reasons why Korea's existing constitutions lacked 'green' values, and then reveal the necessity of a 'green' constitution and its direction and contents.
In Boron, a constitutional public forum called the 'National Sustainable Future Conference' is proposed as a constitutional public forum where various stakeholders can address the sustainability crisis issue.
The appendix contains a selection of important documents that outline the basic values ​​of the Constitution, dating back to 1919, when the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established.
It also includes foreign constitutional texts and provisions that can be used as reference for creating a green constitution, as well as charters with constitutional status.

Even if the martial law system is maintained, the provision that too loosely defines the basis for declaring martial law as “wartime, incident, or a national emergency equivalent thereto” must be revised.
In addition, the National Assembly's consent must be obtained 'before' the declaration of martial law, not 'after', and must be obtained through a two-thirds majority, not a majority.

--- p.10

The centralized political system introduced by Park Chung-hee's regime was designed to promote so-called 'national modernization', that is, rapid economic growth.
This system was effective in quickly mobilizing all of society's capabilities and resources to achieve economic growth targets.
But crises like climate change and care deprivation cannot be solved this way.
A narrowly defined national organization alone would be unable to respond to disasters as they occur.
Therefore, not only government agencies but also civil society must actively participate, pooling knowledge and wisdom and nimbly forming new consensuses as the crisis unfolds.
--- p.24~25

While the conflict between "conservatives and progressives" is inevitable in any society, the polarization in our society cannot be defined as anything other than a "fatal polarization" (Somer, McCoy, Luke 2021) that threatens to destroy the very foundation of democracy.
If this continues, even if formal democracy survives, it will be meaningless and lose its life. However, this December 3 incident
As shown, there are times when democracy actually faces a crisis that could lead to its collapse.
--- p.42

So, for democracy to function fully, democratic control over the judiciary is essential.
For example, the United States has mechanisms such as elections for high-ranking prosecutors and a jury system.
In Germany, the "Lay Judge System" is institutionalized, where ordinary citizens sit on the bench alongside professional judges, and even the Federal Supreme Court's decisions leave open the possibility of being reviewed by the Constitutional Court.
However, in our society, there is no institutional means to check or sanction judges in the judiciary who make subjective and biased decisions.

--- p.46

The basic political orientation and values ​​of this republican political philosophy also share some aspects with the Confucian political philosophy of East Asia (see Jang Eun-ju 2024a, especially 64 et seq.).
The Confucian tradition that Joseon adopted as its national philosophy developed its own republican tradition for a long time in the pursuit of “politics of the common good” for a world of unity.
--- p.52

The denigration of the value of care is also an inevitable consequence of the growth of capitalism.
The capitalist economy, justified by modern liberalism, is a system that operates by devaluing only wage labor that produces goods and services while devaluing the value of care as unpaid labor that supports wage labor (Ahn Sook-young 2023).
These fundamental limitations of the capitalist economy have led directly to the neoliberal era's tendency to view care as an individual responsibility.
--- p.81~82

Dependence on others is an inevitable and inevitable form of existence that no one can avoid, whether during infancy, childhood, adolescence, or illness.
In other words, since dependence is an inevitable characteristic of human existence, caring for those who need dependence can be said to be the most basic moral duty of society and the state (Lee Jae-hong 2024).
In that care must be secured first for human dignity to be secured, care is the most fundamental value of a desirable social order guaranteed by the Constitution.

--- p.91

If the value of care is explicitly stated in the Constitution, the citizens defined by the Constitution will acquire an identity and qualification as beings who need and legitimately demand the care of others, rather than beings who autonomously make their own decisions.
In other words, if the right to care is specified as a fundamental right in the Constitution, it will function as a normative basis for individuals to demand care from the state (Eom Ju-hee 2023).
--- p.96

Participatory income and job security systems, which can be considered national care systems, can help transition to a communal society centered on care values.
Participation income is income provided for activities with social value, and its purpose is to recognize the value of activities that are important for maintaining the community but are not socially recognized, such as responding to the climate crisis, village activities, and caregiving (Cho Ki-hyun 2023).
An example of this is the payment of three public value allowances in Gwangju City: farmers, citizens, and housework.
--- p.105

But some stream of collective desire flowed freely through the monumental walls of history, 1919 and 1945.
The collective passion (aspiration, desire) that in order to survive as a national society, restore national sovereignty, and expand national power, one must become like the powerful people before one's eyes easily passed the thresholds of 1919 and 1945.
--- p.115

However, the problem is even more serious in that even the 'environment' is mainly approached as a basic right of the people.
Article 35, Paragraph 1 of the current Constitution stipulates that “all citizens have the right to live in a healthy and pleasant environment.”
Deeply rooted in this statement is the view that nature is an object of use for humans, who are the subjects of rights.
--- p.121~122

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss is compounding and increasing risks, significantly impacting not only the ecosystem but also human society and the economy.
Because multiple challenges form a single network, we have no choice but to solve the problem by looking at each one together while focusing on it separately.
--- p.126

First, it is necessary to clearly state the public value of natural resources (surface, underground, and aquatic resources) and natural power (hydropower, wind power, etc.) based on the national territory and the principles of their sustainable management through constitutional amendment.
In other words, given that the state-led development growth system has undermined the sustainability of the national territory, the public nature of the national territory and its resources and the obligation to manage them sustainably should be explicitly stated in the Constitution to limit privatization and indiscriminate use.
--- p.141

Meanwhile, the 'Public Opinion Committee' needs to closely coordinate its role with the 'Citizens' Council' established pursuant to the enactment of the 'Citizens' Council Act'.
A citizens' assembly is a system in which citizens from diverse backgrounds are randomly selected, and then go through a deliberation process centered on a specific agenda to produce recommendations, which are ultimately reflected in policy decisions.

--- p.160