World's longest filibuster - a look at the numbers
By Kwon Ji-youn
The world’s longest filibuster went into the books Wednesday evening, leaving behind a host of records.
During the session, which began at 7.07 p.m. last Tuesday, 39 opposition lawmakers spoke for 192 hours and 25 minutes to block the vote on a disputed anti-terrorism bill that they claim will threaten personal freedom and privacy if passed into law.
On Wednesday, Rep. Lee Jong-kul, floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, delivered an emotion-laden speech as the 39th and the last speaker of the filibuster. He spoke for 12 hours and 31 minutes to shatter the record for the longest filibuster set by fellow lawmaker Rep. Jung Cheong-rae on Sunday.
It was the first filibuster in Korea in 47 years. Here is a closer look at the numbers:
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47 years
The filibuster is Korea’s first since 1969. A filibuster is a parliamentary procedure that allows Assembly members to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a proposal through speeches.
192 hours 25 minutes
The world’s longest filibuster began at 7.07 p.m. last Tuesday and ended its nine-day run at 7:32 p.m. on Wednesday. A Canadian party set the previous world record of 57 hours in 2011.
39 lawmakers
Thirty-nine opposition lawmakers strongly opposed the anti-terrorism bill proposed by Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the governing party, aimed at giving the National Intelligence Service (NIS) the authority to collect information on private communications, travel and financial transactions of potential terrorists.
The MPK argues that there is a great possibility that the spy agency will abuse its power and use the law to monitor civilians and opposition lawmakers.
751 minutes
Rep. Lee Jong-kul, the 38th and last speaker of the filibuster, spoke for 12 hours and 31 minutes, or 751 minutes, breaking a record set by fellow lawmaker Rep. Jung Cheong-rae.
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5,000 spectators
More than 5,000 Korean citizens visited the National Assembly to watch the opposition lawmakers engaged in non-stop speeches to block the vote on a disputed anti-terrorism bill after Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa exercised his authority to put the bill to a vote.
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1984
The most-mentioned book by lawmakers was “1984,” a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949. The novel is set in a world of perpetual war, government surveillance and public manipulation, dictated by a political system that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as a “thought crime.”