The Franchise Business Act amendment passed the National Assembly's plenary session on the 11th.
The National Assembly held a plenary session that afternoon and put to a vote the Franchise Business Act amendment introduced on the 9th, and it was approved.
The Franchise Business Act amendment recognizes franchisees' right to collective bargaining. It introduces a registration system for franchisee associations and allows corrective orders if a franchisor fails to fulfill its obligation to consult. Although both the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the Franchise Business Act amendment, passage at the plenary session was delayed as the People Power Party launched a filibuster to block the ruling party's "eight evil laws."
The ruling and opposition parties immediately launched a filibuster after the vote on the Franchise Business Act amendment. They agreed to bring three bills to the floor by the 14th, before National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik departs on an overseas trip. The Criminal Procedure Act amendment will be brought up that day, the Banking Act amendment on the 12th, and the Police Officers' Duties Execution Act on the 13th, in that order.
The Criminal Procedure Act amendment introduced that day is a bill centered on expanding public access to lower court written judgments, one of the judicial reform measures pushed by the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party will begin a filibuster starting with lawmaker Kwak Kyu-taek. After the vote on the Police Officers' Duties Execution Act amendment on the 14th, the first phase of the filibuster standoff is expected to conclude.
The People Power Party has labeled eight key bills pushed by the Democratic Party as the "eight evil laws" and says it will block them. It set up tents in front of the main National Assembly building and declared a protest. The "eight evil laws" defined by the People Power Party are: ▲ the act to establish a dedicated sedition court ▲ the act to create the crime of legal distortion (Criminal Act amendment) ▲ the act to increase the number of Supreme Court justices (Court Organization Act amendment) ▲ the act to introduce a four-tier appeals system (Constitutional Court Act amendment) ▲ the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) Act amendment (expanding CIO powers) ▲ the act to restrict installation of political party banners (Outdoor Advertising Act amendment) ▲ the act to introduce punitive damages for YouTube (Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection amendment) ▲ the act to tighten filibuster requirements (National Assembly Act amendment).