[Hot Interview] Longest Filibuster Ever Kim Yong-tae, "'IXXdeul' Park Seon-won Wanted to Win"

"Democratic Party Adds EBS to Appear Fair"
"Representative Han Dong-hoon Also Called... Positive Response in Constituency"

Kim Yong-tae, a member of the People Power Party who took the lead as the first speaker in the unlimited debate (filibuster) against the ruling party's forced passage of the Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) Act amendment, spoke for 13 hours and 12 minutes, setting a new record for the longest speech in history. Kim said he decided to speak that long after seeing Park Seon-won of the Democratic Party of Korea curse the ruling party members as "these XX" during her filibuster, stating, "I thought I shouldn't lose to Park, who spoke for 10 hours, in terms of time." He also revealed that he had a strong desire to inform the public about the Democratic Party's true intentions behind proposing the EBS Act amendment.

Kim Yong-tae, a member of the People Power Party, is conducting an unlimited debate on the amendment to the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act, one of the "Broadcasting Four Acts," at the National Assembly plenary session on the 29th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Did you plan to speak that long from the beginning?

I didn't intend to speak for that long. Since we are in a situation where the ruling party has a minority and the Democratic Party would end the filibuster by voting after 24 hours, I actually wondered if the filibuster would be effective. But then Democratic Party member Park Seon-won spoke for 10 hours and used a lot of profanity. That seemed undignified for a member of the National Assembly and was very upsetting as a ruling party member. So I went up thinking I would at least beat her in terms of speaking time, but it ended up exceeding 13 hours.

As the youngest member of the ruling party, it must have been tough.

It was natural that my throat swelled while speaking, and my back hurt. Also, since I couldn't eat anything and only drank water, I had abdominal pain. But I endured it. After it ended, I rested, and this morning Representative Jeong Seong-guk also spoke for a long time. I spoke during the daytime, and Representative Jeong spoke late at night, so I wanted to come early to support him because it must have been tough.

On the 30th, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, and others encouraged Rep. Kim Yong-tae, who set the longest filibuster record in history with 13 hours and 12 minutes at the National Assembly. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Why did you oppose the passage of the EBS Act amendment?

When the Democratic Party proposed the EBS Act amendment, the reason for the amendment included the phrase "EBS has been continuously criticized for political dependency." In my opinion, EBS did not have many issues with political dependency and, regardless of conservative or progressive administrations, it has fulfilled its role to some extent. I understood this EBS-related law as the Democratic Party trying to take control of MBC and KBS, and to appear fair, they included EBS in the amendment. They are packaging it to the public as if they are being fair, but in reality, that is not the case, and I wanted to point that out.

What was the reaction around you?

Representative Han Dong-hoon contacted me after it ended and said I did a good job. I also told him that we wanted to show our determination in this minority ruling party situation. Many party members encouraged me, and the response from my constituency was very positive.