SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday proposed weakening the powers of his office and lowering the voting age in a package of constitutional reforms, while allowing the head of state to be re-elected, reports AFP.

South Korea is a vibrant democracy but its executive presidency is extremely powerful, giving rise to a winner-takes-all politics which critics say enables corruption while reducing representation for opposition voices. In last year’s election Moon campaigned on a promise to reform the constitution for the first time in three decades.

The vote was a by-election to choose a successor to his ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye, toppled over a wide-ranging corruption scandal that exposed shady links between big business and politics.

Prosecutors are now seeking a 30 year jail sentence for her, and her own predecessor Lee Myung-bak was arrested last week in a separate inquiry.

Moon’s plan has to be approved by parliament before being put to a referendum in June, and its centrepiece measure would see the country’s single five-year presidency be reduced to a four year term, with one opportunity to stand for re-election.