정부 개헌안 표결...정족수 미달 '투표 불성립'

It's been quite some time since President Moon Jae-in proposed amending the constitution.
The National Assembly had until today to have it ready for the people to decide on the possible revision.
But as widely expected, most lawmakers boycotted the vote, so the parliamentary speaker declared it invalid.
Kim Min-ji has the latest from parliament.
Null and void -- the fate of the president's proposal for amending the Constitution has been decided.
Opposition parties boycotted the vote during a plenary session on Thursday,... resulting in a lack of a quorum.
Only 114 of the 288 lawmakers in the National Assembly took part in the vote -- far short of the two-thirds majority required to pass.

"Although the president's proposal has been turned down,... progress is still being made at the National Assembly. The rival parties need to quickly reach an agreement to craft their own proposal. As speaker, I am sorry that a year and half of talks have led to nothing."

Thursday was the legal deadline for parliament to vote on the president's proposal... as the Constitution stipulates that a vote be held within 60 days after the bill is put forward.
President Moon Jae-in submitted his proposal on March 26th.
It entailed changing the current five-year presidency to a four-year term that's once renewable, also,... promoting decentralization and strengthening basic rights.

The move was widely seen as a way to pressure parliament into quickly crafting a proposal of its own.
Talks had been underway at the National Assembly to amend the country's 30-year-old Constitution... to better reflect social and economic changes as well as limit the massive powers of the president -- however, progress had been slow amid partisan wrangling.