Ruling and Opposition Parties Struggle to Agree on Bills; "Plenary Session Postponed to 4 p.m."

Separate General Assemblies of Lawmakers Scheduled for the Afternoon

The ruling and opposition parties entered last-minute negotiations on December 9 regarding whether to bring contentious bills to the floor ahead of the plenary session, but they failed to narrow their differences. As a result, the plenary session originally scheduled for 2 p.m. was postponed to 4 p.m.

On this day, Kim Byunggi, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party, and Song Eonseok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, met with reporters after concluding a meeting at the National Assembly presided over by Speaker Woo Wonshik. They stated, "The plenary session was delayed so that the two parties could have further discussions."

Yonhap News Agency

Before the meeting, Floor Leader Song told reporters that the Democratic Party should stop pushing through the so-called eight major controversial bills. The bills identified by the People Power Party as the eight major controversial bills include: the bill to establish a special court for insurrection cases; the bill to introduce the crime of judicial distortion (Criminal Act amendment); the bill to increase the number of Supreme Court justices (Court Organization Act amendment); the bill to introduce a four-tier court system (Constitutional Court Act amendment); the amendment to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials Act (expanding the office's authority); the bill to restrict the installation of party banners (Outdoor Advertising Act amendment); the bill to introduce punitive damages for YouTube content (Information and Communications Network Act amendment); and the bill to strengthen requirements for filibusters (National Assembly Act amendment).

The Democratic Party planned to refine its strategy regarding the submission of non-contentious livelihood bills and contentious bills depending on the People Power Party's response. In response, the People Power Party warned that if the Democratic Party did not promise to abandon the contentious bills, it would respond with a filibuster (unlimited debate) even on non-contentious bills. However, as the two sides failed to reach an agreement during the meeting, both parties decided to hold separate general assemblies of their lawmakers right before the plenary session to consolidate their positions.

If non-contentious bills are submitted, around 60 bills, including the Special Semiconductor Act, which was agreed upon by both parties in the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, are expected to be brought to the floor. As for contentious bills, the National Assembly Act amendment-which would allow the Speaker to end a filibuster (unlimited debate) if fewer than one-fifth of all lawmakers, or at least 60 members, are present-and the Outdoor Advertising Act amendment, which would strengthen the management of party banners containing hate or defamatory expressions, are being highlighted.

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