President Moon's 'Impeachment' 1.28 Million vs. 'Support' 990,000... Petition Battle Heats Up

President Moon Jae-in is receiving a briefing on the tasks of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries at the Blue House on the 27th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Amid the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), two petitions on the Blue House website?one calling for the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in and the other supporting him?are showing a heated competition. Both petitions have garnered more than 200,000 signatures, the threshold for an official Blue House response, which will be issued within a month.

Petition for Moon's Impeachment: "Feels Like Watching the Chinese President"

The petition titled "We urge the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in," posted on the Blue House petition board on the 4th, had received over 1,282,000 signatures as of 4 p.m. on the 28th.

The petitioner stated, "The more I observe President Moon's response to the COVID-19 situation, the more it feels like watching the Chinese president rather than the president of the Republic of Korea," adding, "Despite the domestic mask shortage, President Moon supported China with 3 million masks and took no measures against the soaring mask prices."

They continued, "A total of 62 countries worldwide have imposed strong sanctions such as banning Chinese nationals from entering, but the government only now, after hesitating while citing international law, has come up with countermeasures," emphasizing, "Banning foreigners who visited only Hubei Province, which is already locked down, instead of the entire China is unacceptable at a time when patients are emerging throughout China."

The petitioner added, "As the president of the Republic of Korea, shouldn't the most important priority be 'protecting our citizens'?" and stated, "We can no longer just watch."

The petition for President Moon's impeachment gained 200,000 signatures on the 25th and added over 1.08 million more in just three days.

This petition has attracted more participants than the second most signed petition in history, "Demanding Severe Punishment for the Suspect in the Seoul Gangseo-gu PC Bang Murder Case" (1,192,049 signatures). The petition with the most signatures in history is "Dissolution of the Liberty Korea Party" (1,831,900 signatures).

Petition Supporting Moon: "Government Working Day and Night to Eradicate Virus"

Following the attention on the impeachment petition, a petition titled "We Support President Moon Jae-in" appeared on the 26th. As of 4 p.m. on the 28th, it had received over 995,000 signatures.

The petitioner said, "For the health of the people, President Moon and all departments of the Korean government are working tirelessly day and night to eradicate the virus."

They added, "Although numerous fake news stories are making it difficult for the president, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and various government departments, many Korean citizens trust and support President Moon," and said, "We will surely overcome this difficult time together with the president, and I firmly believe that the majority of the people will overcome it with trust in the government."

The petitioner also criticized Shincheonji, stating, "Due to the reckless spread of the virus by the unexpected cult religion Shincheonji, Korea, which was a COVID-19 clean area, saw a rapid increase in confirmed cases within just one week."

Thus, both petitions have exceeded the Blue House response threshold of 200,000 signatures, and the Blue House will provide an official response within a month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.