The ruling and opposition parties are expected to clash head-on over contentious bills during the National Assembly's plenary session on the 4th. While the Democratic Party of Korea is accelerating legislative action centered on the broadcast three laws and the yellow envelope law, the People Power Party is responding by resurrecting the filibuster, which has not been used for about a year, suggesting that a standoff will occur during the session.
The Democratic Party plans to address the bills agreed upon by both sides after the plenary session on the 4th, sequentially presenting the broadcast laws, the Korean Educational Broadcasting System law revisions grouped as the 'broadcast three laws,' the yellow envelope law revising articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act, and the commercial law revisions. These bills have already passed the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 1st. These measures were discarded due to the president's veto during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, and the Democratic Party has initiated their re-promotion following the establishment of the Lee Jae-myung administration.
The People Power Party has declared a full-scale struggle in response to what they call 'legislative rampancy.' They categorize the broadcast three laws as 'broadcast takeover laws' and the yellow envelope law along with the commercial law revisions as 'corporate-killing bills,' stating that they will be launching a public opinion campaign appealing to the people through the filibuster. If the ruling party forces the passage of the bills, the only means for the opposition People Power Party to delay this will be through the filibuster.
However, due to the existing structure of seats, the filibuster by the People Power Party is unlikely to yield effects lasting more than a day. This is because the Democratic Party, Justice Party, independents, and other ruling coalition parties hold the 180 seats necessary to demand the end of the filibuster.
The Democratic Party has stated that if the People Power Party requests filibusters on all five bills, they will implement a 'salami' strategy to process them one by one. There is only one bill that can be prioritized for passage during the July interim National Assembly.
There are differing opinions on which bill should be prioritized among those presented. Initially, the primary option was to prioritize the broadcast three laws; however, a view is emerging within the party to handle the highly symbolic yellow envelope law first. On that day, Heo Young, the Deputy Floor Leader of the Democratic Party, also mentioned during a press conference, "We will do our best as the floor leadership to ensure that the revision of Article 23 of the Labor Union Act is passed within this session." The Democratic Party plans to hold a general meeting of its members before the plenary session on the 4th to decide on the bills to be prioritized. The remaining bills are slated to be addressed in the August interim National Assembly.
Accordingly, the process for the contentious bills, 'bill presentation → filibuster → conclusion → voting,' is expected to continue until the August National Assembly. This July interim National Assembly is set to conclude on the 5th. The Democratic Party has already summoned the August interim National Assembly starting on the 6th, but the actual plenary session is projected to resume around the 21st of this month, considering the summer vacation schedule.