Assembly rejects 6 bills vetoed by Yoon in revote

All six contentious bills vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol were automatically scrapped Thursday, failing to pass a parliamentary revote.

The National Assembly voted down four broadcasting bills, aimed at reducing the government's clout over public broadcasters, as well as a bill on providing cash handouts to the entire population and the so-called "yellow envelope" pro-labor bill, during a plenary session.

The bills were ultimately scrapped as they failed to gain the two-thirds support required to override the president's veto.

The opposition-led parliament had passed the bills between July and August, but they were sent back to parliament for reconsideration after being vetoed by Yoon last month.

Three of the broadcasting bills call for amending the Broadcasting Act, the Foundation for Broadcast Culture Act and the Korea Educational Broadcasting System Act. The proposed changes aimed to alter the governance structure of public broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and EBS -- by significantly increasing the number of their board directors and granting media and broadcasting associations, as well as related professional organizations, the right to recommend board members.

The fourth bill calls for changing the rules governing the decision-making body at the Korea Communications Commission, the state broadcasting regulator.

The "yellow envelope" bill seeks to limit companies from making damage claims against workers during legitimate disputes.

During the session, the Assembly voted on several key livelihood bills, including one increasing the maximum length of parental leave.

Under the revision to the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, the length of parental leave will be increased from a total of two years to a total of three years, with each parent allowed to take leave of up to 1 1/2 years, while the total duration will be divisible into three parts instead of two.

The revision will expand the number of vacation days for fathers after the birth of their child from 10 days to 20 days and ease the criteria for parents working reduced hours by raising the age threshold for children from 8 to 12 years.

Additionally, the Assembly passed revisions to three pieces of legislation on sexual crimes amid public alarm over a surge in digital sex crimes using doctored pornographic images of girls and women.

The revised act on special cases concerning the punishment of sexual crimes punishes people possessing, purchasing, storing or viewing deepfake sexual materials and other fabricated videos with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,500).

Under the revision to the act on protecting children, using sexually exploitative material to blackmail or coerce children and teenagers will be newly punishable by law, and more heavily than under existing laws.

While current laws punish such crimes with imprisonment of one or more years in the case of blackmail and three or more years in the case of coercion, the revision raises the sentences to three or more years and five or more years, respectively, in the event the crimes are carried out against children and teenagers.

The revision to the sexual violence prevention act stipulates that it is the government's responsibility to delete illegally filmed material and help victims return to everyday life. (Yonhap)