The National Assembly had until today to vote on a Constitutional amendment bill proposed by President Moon Jae-in.
But as widely expected, not enough lawmakers showed up for the vote -- meaning it's now null and void.
For more, we connect to our political correspondent Kim Min-ji.
Min-ji, looks like we are back to square one
That's right Ji-yoon, the fate of the president's proposal has been decided.
It was widely expected as opposition parties had been against it... and did not join the vote this morning... resulting in a lack of quorum.
Only 114 lawmakers of the National Assembly's 288 took part in the vote -- far short of the two-thirds majority required to pass -- so the vote fell through.
In actual fact,... a constitutional amendment has been off the table for some time,... overshadowed by other issues -- but today was the legal deadline by which the National Assembly had to vote on the proposal submitted by the president.
President Moon submitted his proposal,... 60 days ago... back on March 26th.
The proposed bill entailed changing the current five-year presidency to two consecutive four-year terms,... promoting decentralization and boosting basic rights.
During heated debates prior to the vote... lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said the vote must go ahead... as amending the Constitution alongside local elections in June was a pledge made to the people,.. and the law stipulates the vote be held.
They pointed out that enough time was given to the National Assembly to craft its own proposal,... with some lawmakers pointing the finger at the main opposition party for holding everything up.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from the opposition bloc said the matter is not about voting down the president's proposal.
They said there's no point voting on a bill that will be rejected,... especially at a time when lawmakers have been making efforts to come up with their own proposal.
The lawmakers said both the government and the National Assembly should feel responsibility for not being able to hold a vote alongside local elections in June,... adding that the ruling party shouldn't be assigning blame to others.
If we recall back to a couple of months ago...talks were underway at the assembly to amend the country's constitution for the first time in 30 years... but amid slow progress due to partisan wrangling,... the president crafted a proposal of his own.
It was widely seen as a move to pressure parliament to speed up talks -- but it didn't bear fruit.
Although the president's proposal is now null and void... pressure will no doubt mount on the National Assembly... as eyes are on whether lawmakers will keep their promise to come up with their own Constitutional amendment bill.
This has been Kim Min-ji from the National Assembly.
