People Power Party Vows Filibuster Against Special Prosecutor Bill Extension

South Korea's main opposition party, the People Power Party, announced it will launch a filibuster to block a bill extending a special prosecutor's investigation. The party claims the Democratic Party is unilaterally pushing the bill, which would extend the investigation period by 30 days, through the National Assembly.

The People Power Party stated that the Democratic Party has abandoned the spirit of cooperation for the second half of the parliamentary session. They accused the Democrats of forcing the bill through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which would extend the investigation period for a special prosecutor. The party is demanding that the bill be passed in the plenary session on July 20.

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We will strongly counter with a filibuster.

Earlier, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee passed an amendment to the Special Prosecutor Act. This amendment would extend the investigation period by an additional 30 days, from its current expiration on July 24 to August 23. The amendment also expands the scope of investigation to include obstruction of audits by public officials and explicitly adds 'harboring a criminal' to the list of related offenses. The number of dispatched public officials would also increase from 130 to 150.

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Given the grave parliamentary situation, we ask all lawmakers to adjust their schedules to be available from the morning of July 20.