The Constitutional Court must change with society, and in accordance with revisions to the Constitution, the top court’s chief said Friday. 

Speaking to reporters during a hike on Friday, Constitutional Court chief Lee Jin-sung said that the Constitution cannot be immutable, and that the top court must move with the times.

“If the Constitution is changed, then rulings must be made according to the new Constitution. The Constitution is not immutable, if a new Constitution is composed to reflect changes in society, then rulings will reflect the changes,” Lee said, hinting that the Constitutional Court’s stance on a number of controversial issues could be changed.

Issues under Constitutional Court’s consideration include whether penalizing those refusing the mandatory military service is constitutional, the matter of allowing abortions, and those regarding the controversial Seoul-Tokyo agreement on sexual slavery of Korean women during Japan‘s occupation of Korea.

Citing the changes regarding the law prohibiting extramarital sexual relations for married individuals, Lee said that constitutional rulings must reflect changes in society. The law that imposed criminal penalties on those found guilty of extramarital sexual relations had been in place for more than 50 years until 2015 when it was ruled unconstitutional.

Regarding the National Assembly’s discussions on revising the Constitution, Lee declined to comment, saying only that the discussions are in the early stages.

Lee also commented on his decision to provide additional commentary on the Constitutional Court’s ruling on former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment last year. At the time, Lee said that Park had failed to fully carry out the duties of the president with regards to the Sewol ferry disaster.

“Kim Kyou-hyun, former senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security, testified that the president (Park) was too busy to check (facts concerning the accident), and that was tantamount to admitting to dereliction of duty,” Lee said.

At the time of the Constitutional Court‘s ruling on Park’s impeachment on March 10, Lee highlighted that Park neglected her duty as the president in being out of the public eye for eight hours while the ferry was sinking off the country‘s west coast.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)