In addition, lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out that they did not listen to the opposition debate or that all members of the People's Power were away at a time when the filibuster (interference of legal proceedings through unlimited discussions) was underway on the revision of the National Assembly Act requested by the People's Power.
Park Sun-won of the Democratic Party of Korea wrote on social media on the afternoon of the 28th, "It is a completely empty power of the people," along with a photo of the National Assembly's plenary session hall, which appears to have been taken from his seat. "I demanded an unlimited debate (a filibuster), but none of them are in the plenary session." The photo is believed to have been taken during a debate by Kim Nam-geun of the Democratic Party of Korea, which took place later in the day.
Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party also posted on social media, "The People's Power has applied for a filibuster, but not a single person is listening. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik and Vice Chairman Lee Hak-young (a member of the Democratic Party) are working in rotation day and night for three days, but Vice Chairman Joo Ho-young of the People's Power is not working irresponsibly." He also said, "The National Assembly law on filibuster needs to be revised and supplemented. We will study and prepare a revision bill."
Democratic Party lawmakers have continued to debate in favor of the bill by participating in the filibuster requested by the people to prevent the bill from being passed. In the filibuster of the revision of the National Assembly Act, lawmakers Chae Hyun-il and Kim Joon-hyuk came out as panelists in favor of lawmaker Kim Nam-geun.
Vice Chairman Joo Ho-young reportedly rejected the filibuster. During the filibuster, the speaker or vice-chairman of the National Assembly should keep the chair, but Woo and Vice-Chairman Lee are taking turns guarding the conference room due to Vice-Chairman Joo's refusal.
Before the filibuster of the Government Organization Act at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 25th, Chairman Woo said to Vice Chairman Joo, "The vice-chairman Joo does not host the debate. It has already been repeated many times," adding, "There are always disagreements and confrontations between the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly. Despite that, the choice of Vice-Chairman Joo is very regrettable and regretful because there is always something that the National Assembly will do and the chairman will do."
"The fact that the chairman of the National Assembly and the vice-chairmen of the ruling and opposition parties are comprised of the chairmen of the National Assembly and the vice-chairmen of the negotiating groups of the ruling and opposition parties may mean that the National Assembly should do its job even in the face of conflict," Woo said. "Avoiding or refusing the duties of the parliament is irresponsible in itself and can cause harm to the smooth operation of the National Assembly. Please keep in mind that it is not a chairperson's job."
In opposition to the Democratic Party-led judicial reform, Vice Chairman Joo said, "The parliamentary democracy of the Republic of Korea is already dead. I will not host (as vice chairman) at the scene of judicial destruction."
Reporter Kim Do Hyun [email protected]
They claimed to launch a filibuster, yet couldn’t even last a day.
Now they’re staging a filibuster where not a single member of parliament even shows up.
They seem clueless about what they’re trying to do, and even more so about how to do it.
And despite being the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, they refuse to preside over their own party’s filibuster.
It’s as if they believe rights come with no responsibilities.
Nothing is more laughable than seeing people like them talk about democracy.