People cry or shout for joy near Anguk Station in Seoul on April 4, when the Constitutional Court dismisses former President Yoon Suk-yeol. Reporter Han Soo-bin

Korean society took the first step toward restoring its damaged democracy by dismissing the president who declared an unconstitutional and illegal emergency martial law last December. Now, some say that the early presidential election in June should be a forum where Korea, which proved its resilience to democracy, will discuss issues of national normalization and reform and come up with solutions beyond ending the insurrection. The top priorities for the early presidential election are political reforms to decentralize presidential power and overcome political extremism, restoring diplomatic power, revitalizing the economy, and national unity.

The Constitutional Court's decision to dismiss former President Yoon Suk-yeol on April 4 has a significant meaning in that it condemned the “pro-coup” of the person in power, who mobilized the armed forces to neutralize constitutional institutions, such as the National Assembly and the National Election Commission, and expanded its power through it, by going through democratic procedures stipulated in the Constitution and laws, including a parliamentary vote and a trial at the Constitutional Court.

However, the procedures exposed the structural weaknesses of the current presidential system, which allows the president to unilaterally mobilize the military and declare martial law. The independence of constitutional institutions has also been jeopardized, with Yoon's supporters storming courthouses. Meanwhile, the economy and diplomacy, which had faltered throughout the Yoon administration, have plummeted further. National divisions have also accelerated. There are calls for an early presidential election to be a forum for candidates and citizens to confront the problems identified by the martial law declaration and seek solutions.

First of all, it is pointed out that discussions are needed to decentralize the president's centralized authority. There are proposals to reform the constitution to adopt a four-year presidential term or a parliamentary system, or the introduction of a responsible prime minister system where a prime minister would be in charge of the country's affairs. Alternatives include expanding the proportional representation system to change the polarized political culture between the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) to a multiparty system, a presidential runoff voting system, and appointing a civilian defense minister to civilize the military. There were also calls to overcome the politics of Yoon, which sees the opposition as an anti-state force and looks only at supporters, not the people. “We need to change democracy, which is restored only when people rush to the streets, to a system that does not require people to go to the streets,” Park Myung-rim, a professor of regional studies at Yonsei University, said in a phone interview. “Reforms are needed to create a system that allows coalitions or alliances among political forces.”

In diplomacy, there is a need to find a balance getting away from the Yoon administration's diplomatic posture, which has been exclusively focused on China and heavily dependent on the U.S. In particular, there is a possibility of qualitative changes in the Korea-U.S. alliance after U.S. President Donald Trump took office, raising the need for Korea to have strategic autonomy between the U.S. and China. The restoration of inter-Korean relations is also needed to manage peace on the Korean Peninsula.

In the economy, Yoon's dismissal has removed the biggest uncertainty that has so far hampered the Korean economy, but with exchange rates, interest rates, prices are all high and production, consumption, and investment are all contracted, an alternative should be made to overcome the crisis, which is compounded by Trump's tariffs. How to restore the weakened competitiveness of the manufacturing industry and secure future growth engines in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) are also among the top priorities to be discussed in the early presidential election campaign.

Many argue that it is impossible to solve these challenges without uniting the people, who are currently divided along ideology, class, generation, and region. “Right now, our society is in a state of psychological civil war,” said Shin Yul, a professor of political science and diplomacy at Myongji University. ”I hope whoever comes to power will show forgiveness and reconciliation toward the other side.”