Everyone's Talking About the 'n번방' Bill

Bills Are Flooding In... But Reluctant to Hold the Plenary Session

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] In the wake of the 'Doctor's Room' and 'Nth Room' controversies, a flood of belated bills are being introduced in the National Assembly. However, there are criticisms that the National Assembly's will to resolve the issue is not as fervent as the enthusiasm for proposing bills. This is because the political circles are showing a lukewarm attitude toward proposals such as reintroducing previously pending bills or holding a plenary session before the general election.

As of the 30th, five bills related to digital sex crimes have been submitted within five days according to the National Assembly's legislative information system. Including bills that have only been announced in press releases but not yet submitted, the number is expected to increase further. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties are burning with legislative will, making the resolution of the Nth Room issue their number one campaign pledge for the general election.

However, many of the newly proposed bills after the Nth Room controversy overlap in content. The bills by Park Kwang-on of the Democratic Party and Park Dae-chul of the United Future Party both include provisions such as 'strengthening sentences to life imprisonment' and 'establishing a new crime of digital crime organization.'

The rehashed bills are no different. Many of the pending amendments to the Sexual Violence Punishment Act already include the strengthened punishments and the imposition of responsibilities on service providers emphasized by most of the new bills. Representative examples include the bills by Jin Sun-mi and Yoo Seung-hee of the Democratic Party, and Yoon So-ha of the Justice Party. These were proposed at the time of the 'Soranet' and 'Webhard Cartel' incidents. The ruling party and government held consultations on digital sex crimes at that time and promised drastic measures. Although new bills are pouring in like a flood, even the existing bills remain pending in the National Assembly.

There are criticisms that the National Assembly is showing a lukewarm attitude toward actually processing the bills. The Justice Party proposed convening a one-point National Assembly session before the April 15 general election, as the 20th National Assembly is nearing its end, to pass the 'Telegram Nth Room Prevention and Punishment Act.' This is based on the view that the 20th National Assembly should take responsibility for hastily passing bills such as the deepfake prevention law while discussing the Nth Room National Assembly petition.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Justice Party Youth Headquarters, as of the 29th, only 13 out of 290 lawmakers agreed to convene the session. There are concerns that it may be difficult to hold a plenary session as candidates are focusing on their constituencies ahead of the general election. However, even after the election, the passage of the bill in the National Assembly remains uncertain. This is because the quorum requirement may not be met due to the absence of lawmakers who lose their seats.

Meanwhile, on the morning of the same day, Sim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party, visited Moon Hee-sang, Speaker of the National Assembly, urging the convening of a special session to process the Nth Room bills. Speaker Moon responded, "I completely agree with Leader Sim's thoughts," and said, "I will talk with the floor leaders of the Democratic Party and the United Future Party today."