As the first plenary session of the August extraordinary session approaches on the 21st, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to enter last-minute scheduling consultations. The People Power Party requested a postponement of the plenary session due to the party convention, prompting National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik to advise, "Please discuss the schedule further among the floor leaders of both parties." However, the Democratic Party of Korea is pushing back, stating, "We cannot postpone the plenary session beyond the 24th," making reaching a scheduling agreement seem difficult.
According to political sources on the 19th, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik met with Song Eon-seok, the emergency response committee chairman and floor leader of the People Power Party, and requested, "Please discuss the schedule further among the floor leaders of both parties." This was in response to Song's request to adjust the schedule of the plenary session set for the 21st to after the party convention.
After meeting with Speaker Woo, Floor Leader Song told reporters, "Our party's convention is scheduled for the 22nd," adding, "(The party convention) is the most important political event for the party and should be a festive occasion, so it is difficult to accept continuing with the plenary session." The People Power Party plans to respond to the Democratic Party's legislative push with a filibuster, noting that the overlapping party convention could disperse party resources.
Currently, the scheduling agreement for the August extraordinary session between the ruling and opposition parties is unclear. The Democratic Party of Korea is willing to cooperate to ensure that the People Power Party can smoothly conduct a filibuster after the party convention, but maintains that the schedule for the plenary session will proceed as planned. The Democratic Party plans to hold consecutive plenary sessions from the 21st to the 24th to vote on the revised Broadcasting Culture Promotion Act among the 'three broadcasting laws' that were previously introduced and for which the filibuster is concluded, followed by addressing the Korean Educational Broadcasting System Act (EBS Act) and amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (Trade Union Act), as well as the second partial amendment to the Commercial Act.
Kim Hyun-jung, the Democratic Party's floor spokesperson, told reporters on this day, "The People Power Party requested to adjust the schedule for the plenary session, and our official position is that discussions are possible," adding, "However, while we can make adjustments within the plenary session schedule from the 21st to the 24th, we cannot postpone it beyond the 24th."