South Korea president urges constitutional amendment to extend presidential terms News
South Korea president urges constitutional amendment to extend presidential terms

[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.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.