DP ends filibuster on media reform bill, passes it through parliament on Tue.

We start at the National Assembly today where lawmakers across the aisle remain at odds over media reform sought by the ruling party.

Now in response the opposition party launched a filibuster starting Monday afternoon.

For more on the situation there I have our political correspondent Moon Hye-ryeon standing by.

Hye-ryeon welcome.

So what's the latest?

Good afternoon, Sunny.

It's been around 25 hours since the filibuster began at around 4 PM on Monday, with the opposition People Power Party arguing against and the ruling Democratic Party speaking in support of the media reform bill presented at yesterday's plenary session.

That filibuster has now come to an end, after a motion submitted by the ruling Democratic Party passed with the required supermajority.

Under parliamentary rules, a filibuster can only be forcibly ended 24 hours after it begins, and only with the approval of at least three-fifths of sitting lawmakers which is 180 members.

Today's vote was conducted by paper ballot, as is customary for motions to end debate — a process that takes longer than the standard electronic voting system used for most bills. Following the end of the filibuster, the DP immediately passed the media reform bill — of the 180 votes cast, 178 lawmakers voted for and 2 voted against. It appears that the PPP did not participate in the vote at all.

What exactly is this media reform bill that the filibuster was launched for?

The media reform bill introduced at yesterday's plenary session is an amendment of the country's Broadcasting Act, and is one of the highly contentious three media reform bills that the DP is backing.

The media reform bills seek a major overhaul of the governance structure at South Korea's public broadcasters, such as expanding the number of board members and introducing a new system for selecting CEOs.

The DP argues that the change would make broadcaster leadership more independent from political power, by including members recommended not only by the ruling and opposition parties, but also by civil society.

But the PPP fiercely opposes the move — saying it would give the ruling party undue influence over media, and potentially infringe on press freedom.

"To boost press freedom and independence, the bill makes CEO appointments more transparent and democratic."

"The three broadcasting control bills can be seen as a prelude to the dictatorship of the Lee Jae Myung administration. Before long, they will take control of the general programming cable channels in the same way, even though those are not included for now"

You mentioned that today is the last day of the July extraordinary session — so what happens to the other bills on the agenda?

That's right, so other bills will carry over into the August session, with a plenary session likely to be scheduled towards the end of the month.

The PPP has vowed to launch filibusters against every single one of the four contentious bills remaining on the agenda two other media reform bills, as well as the so-called "Yellow Envelope Bill" that limits employer action on striking union members, and a revision of the Commercial Act.

The second media reform bill was introduced just a few minutes ago, and the PPP launched yet another filibuster.

The DP, on the other hand, remains committed to these reforms, so we'll have to wait and see what happens.

That's all for now, back to you, Sunny.

All right, Hye-ryeon, thank you for now.

Do keep us posted.