National Assembly Ends Filibuster Vote on National Intelligence Service Act Amendment

Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, is conducting an unlimited debate (filibuster) on the complete revision bill of the National Intelligence Service Act at the National Assembly plenary session on the afternoon of the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] On the 13th, the National Assembly began a vote to decide whether to forcibly end the 'filibuster' (unlimited debate) on the amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act.

The motion to end the filibuster was submitted by the Democratic Party of Korea, and if more than three-fifths (180 members) of the total members present vote in favor, the filibuster will automatically end.

The Democratic Party plans to immediately pass the amendment to the National Intelligence Service Act once the filibuster ends.

It is expected that the Democratic Party, with its 174 seats, combined with pro-government independent lawmakers, the Open Democratic Party, and other minor pro-government parties, will be able to reach 180 seats.

However, since the vote is anonymous and there is a possibility of invalid votes, it is not yet certain to conclude the voting results prematurely.

Before the plenary session, the Democratic Party held an online party meeting to enforce vote discipline.

Kim Young-jin, the senior deputy floor leader, said, "180 seats is not an easy number," and Park Sung-jun, the floor spokesperson, conveyed that he urged, "We have about 181 seats secured, so please vote without missing a single member. Please participate in the anonymous vote without mistakes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.