The Democratic Party of Korea will open a plenary session of the National Assembly on the 24th to handle livelihood and reform bills, including the three judicial reform bills (crime of legal distortion, increase in Supreme Court justices, and petition for trial). The People Power Party is planning a filibuster (unlimited debate) on all bills, including non-controversial ones. However, the Democratic Party holds a majority of seats in the National Assembly, and once 24 hours have passed since the filibuster begins, it can be lifted and the bills can be put to a vote.
Han Byung-do, the Democratic Party floor leader, said at a press briefing at the National Assembly on the 18th, "Amid Lunar New Year sentiment, we once again confirmed the public's firm mandate for ending insurrection and sweeping social reform," adding, "The Democratic Party will mobilize every available tool and method to complete livelihood and reform legislation." He also said the party plans to ask National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik to convene a plenary session on the 24th of this month.
Bills the Democratic Party plans to put to a vote in the February session include: ▲ livelihood bills such as the Child Allowance Act raising the payment age; ▲ the third Commercial Act amendment centered on mandating the retirement of treasury shares; ▲ the Special Act on Administrative Integration for the three regions of South Jeolla and Gwangju, South Chungcheong and Daejeon, and Daegu and North Gyeongsang; and ▲ the Public Prosecutor's Office Act, the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency Act, and the three judicial reform bills.
The political climate is chilly. After People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok skipped a luncheon with President Lee Jae-myung, citing the Democratic Party's passage in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of amendments to the Constitutional Court Act and the Court Organization Act, confrontation between the ruling and opposition blocs has intensified. The Trump U.S. administration pressured Korea with a tariff threat, taking issue with delayed ratification by the National Assembly, but the Special Committee on the Special Act on Investment in the United States, launched by bipartisan agreement, has effectively been halted.
Within the opposition, calls are growing for an "ultra-hardline fight against the ruling bloc." Choi Eun-seok, the People Power Party's senior deputy spokesperson for the floor, said, "It is odd to cooperate in handling the plenary session just because non-controversial bills are included, when they are pushing through contentious bills such as the Commercial Act." He added, "There is still time, so we are considering how to respond."
To pass reform bills, the Democratic Party also plans to open a plenary session every Thursday in March and April. Within the party, some say the National Assembly Act should be revised again to neutralize the opposition's filibuster. A floor leader said, "If the opposition again uses a filibuster by holding the national interest and people's livelihoods hostage, we will break through by re-revising the filibuster law (the National Assembly Act)."