Opposition leader sets record for longest filibuster
Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok of the People Power Party on Tuesday set new records for filibuster speeches, for the longest and the first delivered by an opposition leader.
Jang's speech during the National Assembly plenary session lasted for 23 hours and 59 minutes before ending at around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday. This broke the previous record of 17 hours and 12 minutes set by Rep. Park Soo-min of the same party in September.
Jang was the first opposition lawmaker to stand at the podium after the National Assembly tabled the bill Monday at around noon to establish a special tribunal to try ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol and those involved in his martial law declaration that the ruling bloc has viewed as insurrection.
Jang, who also became the first opposition leader to deliver a filibuster speech since South Korea wrote its first Constitution in July 1948, claimed that the ruling party-controlled parliament's push for a special tribunal would "destroy the independence of the judicial branch."
He also claimed the newly established tribunal will resort to "a ruling that suits (the ruling bloc's) tastes at the most politically advantageous time."
Jang's speech ended as the Democratic Party of Korea and smaller liberal parties, which hold over three-fifths of seats at the parliament combined, worked together to terminate the filibuster through a 185-1 vote. A filibuster can be forcefully ended 24 hours after its launch with a three-fifths majority vote.
The Democratic Party has argued that a special tribunal is essential to bringing justice to Yoon and his allies, and that the courts under the current judicial system have been failing to swiftly hand down the verdicts for those suspected of insurrection including Yoon, triggering speculations from the liberals that there are collusions between the court and insurrectionists in its procrastination.
No court ruling has been made so far over whether the Yoon-led martial law imposition should be interpreted as an insurrection. Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will be the first one to face a verdict on the issue, on Jan. 21.
According to the bill, sponsored by all 166 Democratic Party lawmakers, judges of the tribunal will be selected following approval by a meeting of judges. Tribunals will run only after an initial district court ruling is appealed.
These two aspects were included after the party decided to modify the bill amid concerns that the draft carried unconstitutional elements.
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