5-night 6-day Filibuster Ends... Opposition's Unlimited Offensive and Ruling Party's Veto Proposal Create 'Dodolipyo' Political Stalemate

EBS Bill Passed Ending Unlimited Debate
24 Ruling and Opposition Lawmakers Engage in Debate
Opposition's Forced Passage vs Ruling Party's Veto Showdown

The 5-night, 6-day filibuster surrounding the passage of the Broadcasting Act Amendments ended on the 30th. Since the 22nd National Assembly, not a single bill has been passed through bipartisan agreement, and the confrontational political situation?marked by the ruling party's forced passage, filibusters by the opposition, and the president's veto?has continued like a "repetitive loop." As the futile conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties persist, public sentiment toward the political sphere has grown increasingly cold.

On this day, the National Assembly concluded the plenary session on the Broadcasting Act Amendments, which had continued for 115 hours since the 25th. The Assembly passed the final bill of the Broadcasting Act Amendments, the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act (EBS Act) amendment, with 189 votes in favor out of 189 members present. With this, all the so-called "Broadcasting 4 Acts," including amendments to the Korea Communications Commission Act, the Broadcasting Act, and the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Foundation Act, were passed in the National Assembly. Lawmakers from the ruling party protested the forced passage of the bills after the filibuster ended and walked out, leaving only opposition lawmakers to participate in the vote.

The Broadcasting 4 Acts include provisions such as changing the quorum for the Korea Communications Commission's resolutions from the current two standing committee members to four, significantly increasing the number of directors for public broadcasters like KBS, MBC, and EBS, and granting the right to recommend directors to media and broadcasting academic societies and related professional organizations.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This filibuster became the second longest in history, following the Anti-Terrorism Act filibuster, which was the longest. Since all four bills were processed as a package, when one bill was introduced, a filibuster was held, and after 24 hours, a motion to end the filibuster was submitted to proceed with the vote. After an anonymous vote to end the debate, the vote was immediately held, and the bill was processed accordingly. Because the opposition holds more than 180 seats (three-fifths of the total members), which is required to end a filibuster, it usually takes just over a day to process one bill despite the filibuster. This time, since four bills were processed as a package, it took 5 nights and 6 days.

A total of 24 lawmakers participated in the filibuster, speaking for as short as 24 minutes (Jeon Jong-deok of the Progressive Party) and as long as 13 hours and 11 minutes (Kim Yong-tae of the People Power Party). Kim's filibuster broke the previous record of 12 hours and 47 minutes held by Yoon Hee-sook, making it the longest filibuster in history. During this period, the 20th Children's National Assembly was held at the National Assembly, and child lawmakers observed the plenary session.

On the 30th, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, came out to the rotunda hall stairs and condemned the opposition party's forced passage as the vote began on the fourth bill among the 'Broadcasting Four Laws,' the amendment to the Educational Broadcasting Corporation Act (EBS Act), at the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

However, interest in this filibuster was lukewarm. Overall, media coverage and public attention were relatively low.

On the day the filibuster ended, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated at a rally held in the National Assembly's Rotunda Hall, "As the ruling party, the People Power Party will fulfill its responsibility by recommending that President Yoon request a reconsideration." On the other hand, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik earnestly requested, "I sincerely ask the president to exercise veto power with caution regarding major decisions made through the legislature's long deliberations."

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