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South Korea Speaker Halts Martial Law Amendment Vote After PPP Filibuster Threat

The move knocks out plans for a June 3 referendum.

Overview

  • National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, who reconvened a plenary session Friday, declined to put the bill to a vote after the People Power Party (PPP) said it would filibuster.
  • With 286 sitting members, passage required 191 votes, which meant the ruling camp needed at least 11 PPP lawmakers, so the boycott ended the push.
  • The bill, backed by 187 lawmakers from the Democratic Party and five minor parties, sought tighter checks on martial law including automatic nullification if not approved within 48 hours.
  • It also would add the 1980 Gwangju uprising and the 1979 Busan‑Masan pro‑democracy protests to the Constitution’s preamble.
  • Woo and the Blue House blamed the PPP for blocking the effort, while the PPP says it objects to holding a same‑day referendum with the June 3 local elections rather than to the bill’s content.