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South Korea Opposition Launches Sit-Ins After Speaker Cuts Off Filibuster

The opposition is mobilizing to stop eight judiciary bills that the ruling party plans to bring to a late-December vote.

Overview

  • People Power Party lawmakers began sit-in protests at the National Assembly and across 253 regional offices after Speaker Woo Won-shik halted Rep. Na Kyung-won’s filibuster.
  • Woo cut Na’s microphone 13 minutes into her speech, citing off-topic remarks under the National Assembly Act, in the first such intervention reported since 1964.
  • The regular session ended in disorder with the filibuster unresolved, giving the Democratic Party a procedural path to bring votes in an extraordinary session targeted for Dec. 21–24.
  • The eight disputed measures include creating a special tribunal for insurrection cases linked to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial-law bid and penalties for judges and prosecutors accused of deliberate misconduct.
  • The PPP, which moved to filibuster all bills after negotiations collapsed, is also pressing for a parliamentary probe into the prosecution’s handling of the 2015 Daejang-dong development case.