August Extraordinary Session Ends Early on 25th Amid Session Disputes, Passing 'Flood Damage Prevention Act' and Others (Comprehensive)

August Extraordinary Session Ends Early on 25th Instead of 31st... Ruling Party Calls It a "Session-Cutting Trick"
"Illegal Banner Removal" Election Law Amendment
"Flood Prevention" Urban Stream Flood Control Act Passed in Plenary Session

The August extraordinary session of the National Assembly will end today, the 25th. Originally, the August extraordinary session was scheduled to be held for 16 days from the 16th to the 31st of this month, but the Democratic Party shortened the session end date to the 25th, so the August extraordinary session will be held for 10 days from the 16th to the 25th. The People Power Party criticized this as a ‘trick’ to block the vote on the arrest motion for Representative Lee Jae-myung, while the Democratic Party countered that it was a matter agreed upon on the condition that the Yellow Envelope Act and the Broadcasting Act would not be brought up. However, both ruling and opposition parties handled livelihood bills such as the Urban Stream Flood Prevention Act to prevent flood damage at the plenary session on the 24th.

At the plenary session held that day, the Democratic Party submitted a revision to advance the end date of the August extraordinary session to the 25th. The revision was passed with 158 votes in favor, 91 against, and 2 abstentions.

On the 24th, at the plenary session held in the National Assembly, signs with the phrase "Bulletproof National Assembly Session Trick, Democratic Party Wake Up" were attached to the seats of the People Power Party members. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Earlier, the prosecution had notified Representative Lee to appear on the ‘30th,’ but with the passage of the revision to the session period at the plenary session that day, Representative Lee will now appear before the prosecution during the ‘non-session’ period as he had requested.

The People Power Party strongly opposed this ‘splitting of the session.’

Lee Yang-su, the senior deputy floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the plenary session that day, "The Democratic Party has convened extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly every month this year, continuing the session." He pointed out, "In February last year, the arrest motion for Representative Lee Jae-myung and in November last year, the arrest motion for Representative Noh Woong-rae were rejected, leading to criticism that they are a ‘party specializing in shielding’." He emphasized, "Suddenly changing their stance to demand a non-session period and to end the session is a trick to avoid the vote on the arrest motion tailored to the party leader’s request and merely a pretext to build justification for rejecting it later."

He also said, "The necessity and timing of the request for an arrest warrant for Representative Lee regarding various allegations, including the Baekhyun-dong incident and the Ssangbangwool illegal remittance to North Korea suspicion, are matters for investigative agencies to decide," adding, "It is not something decided by the suspect’s demand that it cannot be at the end of September but can be at the end of August." He continued, "Regarding the annual National Assembly operation schedule under Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the National Assembly Act, the August extraordinary session is to be held within 16 days and the session period is until the end of the month," criticizing, "Ignoring the National Assembly Act and ending the session early is equivalent to Representative Lee demanding that the warrant be requested during the ‘non-session’ period."

If a warrant is requested during the session, the National Assembly votes on the arrest motion, and the Democratic Party is concerned that the party will again be divided into ‘anti-Myung’ and ‘pro-Myung’ factions over Representative Lee’s status, leading to further conflict. During the vote on the arrest motion for Representative Lee in February, the ‘no’ votes reached 138, narrowly rejecting it, but afterward, among the Democratic Party’s hardline members, there was controversy over identifying the lawmakers who voted ‘yes.’

For this reason, the Democratic Party insisted on ending the session on the 25th, considering the possibility of the prosecution requesting an arrest warrant for Representative Lee. They also requested the prosecution to file the warrant during the ‘non-session’ period so that Representative Lee could undergo the warrant review without a vote on the arrest motion.

The day before, Floor Leader Park Kwang-on criticized at the Supreme Council meeting, "The prosecution’s insistence on sending the arrest motion for Representative Lee during the regular session is a political act to corner the Democratic Party and inflict damage," adding, "If the arrest motion is rejected, they attack the Democratic Party as shielding, and if it is passed, they intend to politically damage the Democratic Party by causing division. The public already knows this is an intention to create a ‘flower card’ in the game of Go."

Song Ki-heon, the senior deputy floor leader of the Democratic Party, also asked at the plenary session, "Is it normal for the prosecution to investigate the leader of the main opposition party for several years?" He said, "I have been in the legal profession for over 30 years, but I have never seen an investigation dragged out like this. Even though Representative Lee gave up his immunity and said he would openly appear for the warrant review, the prosecution delayed the summons and warrant request for months, which means the prosecution is trying to control the National Assembly."

The voting results for the Urban Stream Watershed Flood Damage Prevention Measures Act were displayed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Although the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the early end of the August extraordinary session, they subsequently handled livelihood bills one after another.

The National Assembly submitted and passed the ‘Urban Stream Basin Flood Damage Prevention Measures Act’ to prevent flood damage that day. The bill aims to establish comprehensive flood prevention measures for urban stream basins where it is difficult to prevent flood damage with conventional flood management measures.

The government is required to establish a ‘Basic Plan for Flood Damage Prevention in Specific Urban Streams’ every ten years. Specific urban streams are defined as streams where significant flood damage has occurred or is expected due to urbanization, but where damage prevention is difficult with conventional flood management measures such as stream maintenance.

Additionally, a comprehensive water disaster situation room can be established and operated to collect and disseminate water disaster information such as urban flooding and manage situations. If necessary for the operation of the situation room, the head of related agencies can be requested to submit necessary data. The heads of related agencies must comply with the request unless there are special reasons.

The Minister of Environment may conduct urban flood forecasts by basin to prevent or mitigate damage to life, body, and property caused by urban flooding, and to this end, may establish and operate an Urban Flood Forecast Center involving related experts.

Earlier, the ruling and opposition parties’ flood recovery task force agreed to handle flood prevention and damage support laws, including this bill, within this month.

The ‘Public Official Election Act Amendment Bill,’ which relaxes regulations on campaign materials such as banners during election campaigns, also passed the National Assembly that day. This is expected to resolve the ‘lawless election banner’ situation that occurred because a new bill was not prepared by the deadline last month following the Constitutional Court’s ruling that some provisions were unconstitutional or inconsistent with the constitution last year. The amendment shortened the prohibited period for banner installation from ‘180 days before the election day’ to ‘120 days before the election day.’ It also prohibits holding gatherings or meetings during the election period that influence the election, such as ‘hometown associations, clan meetings, alumni meetings, unity rallies, picnics, and gatherings or meetings with more than 25 participants.’

In addition, the amendment includes provisions that relax restrictions on election campaigning, allowing ordinary voters to use items such as sashes for campaigning.

The National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary meeting that afternoon and amended and approved the Public Official Election Act amendment bill, which was proposed as an alternative by the Special Committee on Political Reform (Jeonggae Special Committee).

Although there was no consensus on Article 103, Paragraph 3, which regulates restrictions on gatherings and meetings during the election period, the amendment was approved after negotiations between the ruling and opposition floor leaders resumed the plenary meeting during the plenary session.

Last July, the Constitutional Court ruled some provisions of the Public Official Election Act unconstitutional or inconsistent with the constitution, which banned political banners and posters from 180 days before the election day. The ruling was based on the grounds that it broadly restricted gatherings and meetings, infringing on political expression and election campaign freedom.

The election law amendment bill was delayed due to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s review of the system and wording and was postponed, and the July deadline set by the Constitutional Court for legislation was missed.

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