Special Prosecutor Chaesangbyeong and Broadcasting 4 Laws Submitted to Plenary Session... Opposition "Forceful Processing" vs Ruling Party "Filibuster"

Opposition to Sequentially Submit and Process Four Broadcasting Laws
Ruling Party Finalizes 16-Member Debate List... "Will Block Passage"
Emotions Run High, Physical Clashes Possible

On the 25th, the National Assembly will put the 'Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act' for re-vote and the 'Broadcasting Four Acts' on the plenary session agenda. While the Democratic Party of Korea has announced its intention to forcibly pass the contentious bills, the People Power Party plans to focus all efforts on countering the filibuster (unlimited debate) under the leadership of Representative Han Dong-hoon. As both ruling and opposition parties have indicated a strong confrontation over the passage of the bills, political deadlock is expected to deepen.

Speaker Woo Won-sik accepted the Democratic Party's request and plans to submit the Broadcasting Four Acts to the plenary session for a vote on the same day. In an emergency press conference held the day before, Speaker Woo announced that the Broadcasting Four Acts would be sequentially submitted and put to a vote. If the four bills are submitted one by one, the ruling party is expected to respond with a filibuster, taking 24 hours per bill, totaling up to 4 nights and 5 days. According to the National Assembly Act, if more than one-third of the total members request the Speaker to end unlimited debate, and 24 hours have passed since the debate started, a forced end to the debate can be approved if more than three-fifths of the total members agree.

The Broadcasting Four Acts refer to amendments to the Broadcasting Act, the Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act, the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act, and the Broadcasting and Communications Commission Act. The core content involves increasing the number of directors of public broadcasters such as KBS, MBC, and EBS, and changing the governance structure by granting the right to recommend directors to media and broadcasting academic societies and related professional organizations. These bills passed the 21st National Assembly plenary session but were discarded due to President Yoon Seok-yeol's veto (request for reconsideration).

Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is protesting Speaker Woo Won-sik's demand to stop the unlimited debate (filibuster) during the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 4th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Act will also be re-voted in the plenary session. The special prosecutor act, which passed the plenary session on the 4th, returned to the National Assembly due to the President's veto. For re-voting, a majority of the total members must be present, and at least two-thirds of the members present must approve for the bill to pass. If all 300 members attend, at least 8 defections from the People Power Party are required for passage, making the likelihood of approval on the day slim. However, the Democratic Party believes that even if the agenda is rejected, it is sufficient to use it as a pressure card against the ruling party to draw out public emotional opposition.

As tensions between the ruling and opposition parties escalate, the possibility of physical clashes also exists. Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the Democratic Party, said at the policy coordination meeting, "I advise the members of the People Power Party. As representatives of the people, I hope you will support the re-vote in accordance with the will of the people." He criticized the ruling party's insistence on the filibuster as "the last desperate attempt to seize control of the broadcasting system."

The ruling party is determined to form a united front to block the passage of the bills. First, they finalized a list of 16 speakers, including Choi Hyung-doo, Choi Soo-jin, and Lee Sang-hwi, who will participate in the filibuster. Each person plans to speak for 4 hours, conducting at least 72 hours of opposition debate. Han Dong-hoon, the newly appointed leader of the People Power Party, said, "We will unite as one to firmly prevent the passage of wrong laws that would harm the people." Floor leader Choo Kyung-ho strongly requested Deputy Speaker Joo Ho-young to refuse to preside over the filibuster, preparing for a last stand. This is a sign of protest against Speaker Woo Won-sik, who is from the Democratic Party, presiding over the session.

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