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Filibuster standoff ends after four days, but contentious bills are next on agenda

Published: 14 Dec. 2025, 20:28 Updated: 15 Dec. 2025, 12:36

Woo Won-shik, speaker of the National Assembly, speaks about the four-day filibuster after the partial amendment to the Police Officers’ Duties Execution Act passes unanimously with 174 votes in favor out of 174 lawmakers present during the first plenary session of the 430th National Assembly at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Dec. 14. [NEWS1]

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Sunday ended a four-day filibuster standoff at the National Assembly after lawmakers voted to terminate debate on a police powers bill, clearing the way for votes on legislation covering an insurrection court, banking rules and online content regulation.

The National Assembly voted at 4:38 p.m. to end a filibuster on a partial amendment to the Police Officers' Duties Execution Act, with 183 lawmakers voting in favor of terminating the debate.

The PPP, which had staged filibusters for three days and four nights on revisions to the Criminal Procedure Act, the Banking Act and the Police Officers’ Duties Execution Act walked out of the chamber and did not take part in the vote.
Park Soo-min, a PPP lawmaker who spoke for four hours and 14 minutes in the final stretch of the filibuster, criticized the DP.

“The DP is pursuing unchecked legislative overreach under the name of reform, pressing ahead whenever the PPP falters,” Park said.

The amendment passed on Sunday allows police officers to directly intervene to stop the distribution of leaflets toward North Korea in border areas. Activist groups in South Korea have periodically sent leaflets across the border by balloon to deliver information, messages and materials into North Korea.

Lawmakers framed the amendment as a follow-up to revisions to the Aviation Safety Act that passed the National Assembly on Dec. 2.

Lawmakers vote to end a filibuster on an amendment to the Police Officers’ Duties Execution Act during a plenary session of the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 14. [YONHAP]

The DP on Saturday also pushed through an amendment to the Banking Act that bars lenders from factoring insurance premiums or contributions to the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency into additional loan interest rates.

The DP is reviewing plans to hold the next plenary session as early as Dec. 21, taking into account National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik’s Central Asia trip scheduled from Monday to Dec. 20. That creates a pause of just over a week, after which the DP's floor leadership plans to prioritize several contentious bills.

The bills include legislation to establish a special court division for insurrection-related cases linked to former President Yoon Suk Yeol, along with revisions to the Information and Communications Network Act.

Lawmakers applaud National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik as voting begins after the end of a filibuster on a partial amendment to the Police Officers’ Duties Execution Act during the first plenary session of the 430th National Assembly at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on Dec. 14. [NEWS1]

The PPP has labeled both bills among its “eight major problematic bills.”

“We are treating passage of the two bills as a given and are considering whether to also put forward a third bill, including a second special prosecutor proposal,” a DP floor official said.

The plan assumes continued filibusters by the PPP and would involve holding plenary sessions through Dec. 23 or 24 to pass two or three bills.

The bill to establish a special insurrection court division, which passed the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Dec. 3, is likely to undergo further revisions before reaching the plenary session.

“We plan to revise the bill by shifting the body that forms the judicial candidate recommendation committee for the special insurrection court division to within the judiciary, rather than including the justice minister, the secretary general of the Constitutional Court and judges’ councils at each court level,” a DP official said. “The bill will also apply the court’s jurisdiction starting at the appellate level rather than the first trial.”

The revisions are also expected to drop provisions extending detention periods from six months to two additional three-month terms, and contain clauses barring pardons, sentence reductions or reinstatement of rights for those convicted of insurrection.

“Party leader Jung Chung-rae received legal advisory opinions from an outside law firm on Saturday,” Park Soo-hyun, the DP's chief spokesperson, said. “The party leadership will decide its direction after reviewing public feedback and holding a lawmakers’ meeting.”

In contrast, the bill aimed at curbing the spread of false or manipulated information is expected to reach the plenary session in its current form after clearing the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on Wednesday.

The bill would allow courts to impose punitive damages of up to five times the assessed harm on media outlets or YouTubers who knowingly spread false or manipulated information.

Rep. Noh Jong-myun of the DP, secretary of the Media Reform Special Committee, defended the bill at a press briefing on Sunday.

“I hope it receives fair evaluation and criticism without misunderstanding,” he said.

But the PPP continues to oppose the bill, with Rep. Choi Hyung-du calling it an “online gag law with vague standards for punitive damages.”

As political confrontation continues toward year-end, several other bills tied to what the DP calls its three major reform agendas, along with legislation linked to President Lee Jae Myung’s stated push for a “Kospi 5000,” will likely roll over into next year.

Bills such as the proposed crime of legal distortion, which Lee Seok-yeon, chairman of the National Unity Committee, urged the DP to reconsider on Dec. 11 by calling it a “disgrace to a civilized country,” are unlikely to pass this year.

The proposed crime of legal distortion would make it a criminal offense for judges or prosecutors to intentionally misapply the law in their rulings.

Park Soo-hyun also suggested a delay for a third revision to the Commercial Act, saying the calendar remains tight even for processing reform-related legislation.

The revision includes a key provision that would require companies to cancel treasury shares. Treasury shares are stocks that a company repurchases from the market, and the proposal would obligate firms to retire those shares once they buy them back rather than retain them.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG BO-HYUN [[email protected]]