[JURIST] South Korean President Park Geun-hye [BBC profile] proposed on Monday to amend the country’s constitutional provision that restricts presidents to one term in office. In a speech to the legislature, she called for [Korea Times report] a special committee of the National Assembly [official website] to debate the issue. Currently, South Korean presidents can only have a single five-year term, and Park finishes her term in office in February 2018. She claims [Reuters report] that the change is necessary to better maintain policy continuance and to more effectively engage in foreign policy. The opposition has accused Park of using the proposal to distract from recent governmental corruption.

South Korean Senior Prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon was indicted[JURIST report] in July on charges of bribery. Jin has been accused of accepting more than USD $11 million from an executive at the online-game company Nexon [corporate website] during collusive stock transactions over a nine-year period. Jin is the highest ranking official in recent history to face a corruption scandal.