Plenary parliamentary meeting postponed ahead of planned vote on controversial media bill

The National Assembly postponed a plenary meeting set for Wednesday, hours after the ruling party railroaded a controversial media bill through a parliamentary committee despite protests from opposition parties.

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug expressed his decision to put off the plenary meeting set for the afternoon, according to Rep. Han Byung-do, spokesman of the ruling Democratic Party (DP).

The DP, controlling an absolute majority at the National Assembly, planned to push the bill that would impose a fivefold increase in penalties on media outlets that make false or fake news reports, through the plenary session.

But the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) asked for the postponement of the main session, arguing the bill could face procedural problems if it is put to a plenary vote in less than one day after it passed through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee early Wednesday morning.

The floor leaders of the DP and the PPP, as well as the assembly speaker, were to hold a meeting later in the day to discuss the issue.

Spearheaded by the DP as part of its broader vision to "reform" the media, the legislation primarily aims to curb the dissemination of misleading news by increasing media outlets' responsibility for such reports.

It, however, has evoked strong criticism from opposition parties and media industry associations as an attempt to gag media outlets critical of the government and the ruling party ahead of next year's presidential election. (Yonhap)