'Geomsu Wanbak' Weekend Plenary Session... Hand-to-Hand Combat and Harsh Criticism Create 'Asurajang'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Assembly descended into chaos during the legislative process of the Democratic Party's push for 'Geomsu Wanbak' (complete removal of prosecutorial investigative authority).

At the plenary session held on the afternoon of the 30th, the Democratic Party passed the amendment to the Prosecutors' Office Act and submitted the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act. The People Power Party, having conducted a filibuster (unlimited debate) on the Prosecutors' Office Act on the 27th, began a second filibuster on the Criminal Procedure Act that day.

After finishing their party meeting, People Power Party lawmakers, including Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Jeong Jin-seok, rushed to the Speaker's office around 3:45 p.m. to request a meeting with Speaker Park Byeong-seok. The People Power Party lawmakers held placards reading "Geomsu Wanbak Hurts the Common People and the Weak" and shouted slogans such as "Oppose Geomsu Wanbak, an Attempt to Cover Up Power Corruption."

At around 4:09 p.m., Speaker Park passed by the People Power Party lawmakers surrounding the Speaker's office and moved to the plenary hall. During this process, a violent clash occurred between the Speaker's office staff and People Power Party lawmakers. A member of the press caught in the scuffle was injured in the face and bled. The People Power Party stated that female lawmakers sitting in the front row right in front of the Speaker's office were stepped on by the Speaker's office staff and injured.

After the commotion, the plenary session scheduled to convene at 4 p.m. started 23 minutes late. Just before the session began, when Speaker Park called the floor leaders of both parties to the podium, several lawmakers gathered and pointed fingers at each other. Loud shouting between ruling and opposition party lawmakers continued until the vote on the Prosecutors' Office Act was conducted. The Prosecutors' Office Act was passed by a vote of 172 in favor, 3 against, and 2 abstentions out of 177 members present, just 6 minutes after the session began. People Power Party lawmakers did not participate in the vote.

After the vote on the Prosecutors' Office Act, when a motion to set the session of this extraordinary National Assembly to one day was passed, Bae Hyun-jin of the People Power Party requested a procedural speech and harshly criticized Speaker Park. Without greeting Speaker Park, Rep. Bae pointed her finger and said, "Is this the democracy you talk about?" She added, "Is traveling abroad on the largest scale in history and enjoying protocol the role of the head of National Assembly democracy? Resign."

Park Chan-dae, a Democratic Party lawmaker, responded with a procedural speech targeting the People Power Party, saying, "Completely denying the agreement and acting out like this is disrespectful to the people. You should be ashamed."

After the submission of the Criminal Procedure Act, the filibuster began at 4:58 p.m., with People Power Party lawmaker Kim Hyeong-dong as the first speaker. The filibuster is scheduled to automatically end at midnight when the extraordinary session concludes.

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