Filibuster Re-introduced in the Korean National Assembly

 

Members of the opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) mobilized on the evening of February 23 to block the passage of a controversial anti-terrorism bill in the National Assembly. The current 19th National Assembly now holds the world record in the longest filibuster session: as of February 28, it has lasted over 147 hours.  

The most notable instance of a filibuster in the National Assembly occurred in August 1969 when members of the New Democratic Party held the floor to block a Constitutional Amendment that would have prevented the President from holding office three times. It produced 10 hours and 15 minutes of filibuster performed by Representative Park Han Sang.

The filibuster was outlawed in the National Assembly for 39 years, until it was reintroduced in the bipartisan National Assembly Advancement Act of 2012. Under the provisions, any member can declare a filibuster if one-third of the members concede to the motion. The filibuster can only be repealed if three-fifths of the members agree to it, but the ruling Saenuri Party does not currently have enough members to do so.

“The filibuster is the only means available for a minority party to enforce a checks and balance system against the majority party,” said Kim Jong In, current head of Emergency Committee Planning of MPK.

MPK has enacted this current filibuster following the provision of a broad range of surveillance powers to the National Intelligence Service (NIS), as outlined in Article 9 of the anti-terrorism bill. This bill grants NIS the authority to retrieve location, immigration, financial, and communication data of any individual deemed to pose a risk to national security.

“The law not only gives the NIS unprecedented, unconstrained power to spy on every detail of our lives without our knowledge, but also violates freedom of expression,” said Representative Hong Jong Hak in his 5-hour monologue.

A total of 28 representatives took the floor to dedicate their efforts to the mobilization. Unlike the United States, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea allows the speaker to only discuss matters related to the bill. The first to take the floor was Representative Kim Kwang Jin, who had made national headlines few days earlier by publicly reprimanding Prime Minister Hwang for his ignorance regarding anti-terrorist mechanisms. Representative Eun Soo Mi broke the previous record by holding the floor for 10 hours and 18 minutes, only to be surpassed by her colleague Jeong Chung Rae’s record of 11 hours and 39 minutes.  

President Park expressed great frustration over the filibuster during her eighth session of the National Economic Advisory Council. Reports show that she slammed the table multiple times and demanded that the National Assembly pass the bill.  

After seven days of endless debate, members of the National Assembly are showing signs of fatigue. The Speaker and two Vice Speakers of the House were rotating out on three different shifts to keep the session in place, only to be replaced by the heads of each Committee for the first time in history.

The two parties met informally to resolve their differences on February 26, but they were not able to reconcile. The MPK insisted that it would be willing to accept concessions made by the Speaker of the National Assembly, while the Saenuri Party maintained its stance on passing the original bill.

Experts initially believed that the two sides will be able to arrive at a concession by February 29, for they need to pass a bill that establishes voting districts for the general election.  However, MPK claimed that it is willing to extend the filibuster until March 10, which is when the temporary session is expected to conclude.