The ruling Democratic Party on Tuesday pushed through a bill to establish special tribunals for insurrection and treason charges linked to the Dec. 3, 2024, martial law declaration, ending a daylong filibuster by the main opposition People Power Party.
Lawmakers first adopted a motion to cut off the filibuster, which passed 185-1. The Assembly then approved the bill 175-2, including two abstentions, with 179 of 298 lawmakers voting. Lawmakers from the People Power Party boycotted the vote.
The revised bill requires the Seoul Central District Court and the Seoul High Court to set up at least two dedicated panels each to handle insurrection, treason and rebellion cases tied to the martial law declaration by ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The bill also leaves the selection of judges largely to the judiciary’s internal procedures, after an earlier version drew criticism for proposing a separate nomination process that could have involved outside figures — including the justice minister — or other agencies.
Soon after, the Democratic Party moved to take up another contentious bill that would define and ban the distribution of manipulated or fabricated information and introduce both compensatory and punitive damages.
The move prompted the People Power Party to launch another filibuster, which the Democratic Party again moved to cut off after 24 hours.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
