Woo Wonshik: "Lengthy Irrelevant Remarks Are Problematic"
Shin Dongwook: "Preliminary Explanation for Opposing the Broadcasting Act"
Democratic Party Expected to Vote to End Filibuster After 24 Hours
On the 4th, during the plenary session of the National Assembly, when the partial amendment bill of the Broadcasting Act, among the 'Three Broadcasting Laws (Broadcasting Act, Broadcasting Culture Promotion Agency Act, Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act amendment bills),' was submitted, Shin Dongwook of the People Power Party started a filibuster. Yonhap News
That afternoon, the National Assembly convened a plenary session and introduced the "Partial Amendment to the Broadcasting Act." The Broadcasting Act is one of the so-called "three broadcasting laws" (Broadcasting Act, Foundation for Broadcast Culture Act, and Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act). Despite opposition from the People Power Party, the Democratic Party is pushing for its passage in the plenary session.
As the filibuster began, all ruling party lawmakers left the chamber in unison.
Taking the first turn in the filibuster, Representative Shin stated, "The National Assembly still has three years left, but the newly elected ruling party leader has declared war against the opposition. This is, in effect, a declaration of war against the people."
Shin further criticized, "We do not recognize the ruling party as a legitimate ruling party. The Lee Jaemyung administration is led by President Lee Jaemyung, Prime Minister Kim Minseok, and a ruling party leader whose eligibility to visit the United States is questionable due to the arson incident at the US ambassador's residence. This so-called 'anti-American trio' is leading the administration."
During Shin's remarks, National Assembly Speaker Woo Wonshik interjected, "This is supposed to be an unlimited debate on the partial amendment to the Broadcasting Act. It is problematic to speak at length on unrelated topics." Shin responded, "This is a preliminary explanation of why we oppose the Broadcasting Act."
The bill aims to expand the board of directors of public broadcasters KBS, MBC, and EBS by including experts from various fields and representatives from all sectors of society, in order to ensure independence, political neutrality, and sound management, thereby fulfilling their public responsibilities.
During the Yoon Sukyeol administration, the bill was previously scrapped after the president exercised his right to request reconsideration (veto).
Although the People Power Party has started a filibuster, under the National Assembly Act, the filibuster can be ended by a vote (with the approval of at least three-fifths of the members present) after 24 hours have passed since its commencement. Given the Democratic Party's number of seats, it is virtually impossible for the filibuster to last more than a day.
The Democratic Party is expected to move for a vote to end the debate at around 4:03 p.m. on August 5, after 24 hours have elapsed.
Since the July extraordinary session of the National Assembly ends on August 5, the Democratic Party is expected to pass only the Broadcasting Act during this session and handle the remaining bills in the August extraordinary session.
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