Opposition Strongly Condemns Ruling Party's Forced Passage of Media Arbitration Act... "Legislative Rampage Must Stop Immediately"

The 2nd Subcommittee on the Review of Culture and Arts Bills of the 389th National Assembly Extraordinary Session's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee is being held on the afternoon of the 27th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, chaired by Chairman Park Jeong. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] The ruling party's forcible passage of the Media Arbitration Act, which mainly introduces punitive damages for 'fake news,' has sparked fierce clashes between the ruling and opposition parties, with the People Power Party announcing a countermeasure by forming a Committee on Agenda Adjustment.

Kang Min-guk, the floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, released a statement on the 28th saying, "The Media Arbitration Act, which passed the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's bill subcommittee (the previous day), is an excessive double punishment that stifles the critical function," and added, "The Democratic Party must immediately stop its legislative rampage." Choi Hyung-doo, a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee from the People Power Party, also emphasized, "We define this as a 'return to an era of media censorship' and will never tolerate it, but will fight alongside the people."

The People Power Party plans to use the Committee on Agenda Adjustment card to block the Democratic Party's unilateral actions. If the Committee on Agenda Adjustment is formed, it can review contentious bills for up to 90 days. This is intended as a kind of cooling-off period, but there is a possibility that Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Open Democratic Party who is strongly pushing the Media Arbitration Act as the opposition party's representative on the committee, will join, which is expected to provoke even greater backlash.

The remaining legislative procedures include the full meeting of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and passage through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. After that, a plenary session will be held for final approval. Considering the current status of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee and the National Assembly's organization, the Democratic Party could pass the bill unilaterally. The Democratic Party aims to pass it in the August National Assembly session. The amendment to the Media Arbitration Act mainly allows for claiming punitive damages up to five times for false or fabricated reports caused by intentional or gross negligence by the media. It also includes provisions requiring correction reports to be published with the same time length and size as the original report.

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