Rep. Jung Cheong-rae shatters filibuster record

By Kwon Ji-youn

Rep. Jung Cheong-rae of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) on Saturday shattered the record for the longest filibuster set by fellow lawmaker Rep. Eun Soo-mi on Wednesday.

Saturday marked the fifth day of non-stop speeches by opposition lawmakers to block a vote on an anti-terrorism bill that they claim will threaten personal freedom and privacy if passed into law.

Jung spoke for nearly 12 hours before leaving the podium late on Saturday afternoon, about 80 minutes longer than Eun, who spoke for 10 hours and 18 minutes.

The MPK began the filibuster at 7.07 p.m. on Tuesday to block the vote on the disputed anti-terrorism bill after Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa exercised his authority to put the bill to a vote.

The previous record for the longest speech at the Assembly was 10 hours and 15 minutes, recorded in 1969 by then-opposition lawmaker Park Han-sang, who sought to block then-President Park Chung-hee’s move to revise the Constitution to allow a third term in office.

The opposition party is strongly against passing 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.