Cheong "Only 0.1% Monthly Average Access from China on National Petitions"... Refuting 'China Gate'

Cheong Wa Dae Panorama / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] On the 2nd, the Blue House rebutted the so-called 'Chinagate' allegations that ethnic Koreans in China are systematically distorting internet public opinion to favor the government, stating, "The proportion of access to the Blue House National Petition website from China over the past year was an average of 0.1% per month," and added, "There are too many people speaking inaccurately, so we want to make this clear."

A Blue House official said this in the afternoon when asked by reporters about the allegations that traffic supporting certain public opinions was concentrated on the Blue House National Petition website as an extension of the 'Chinagate' suspicions.

The official disclosed specific figures, saying, "When we classified the records of visitors to the Blue House website by region for the month of February, 96.9% were domestic, the United States was 0.9%, Vietnam 0.6%, Japan 0.3%, and China was 0.06%."

On the Blue House National Petition website, a petition demanding the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in due to criticism of the government's response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has surpassed 1.43 million signatures as of this date. In response, a counter-petition supporting President Moon also appeared, with about 1.19 million agreeing as of the same time.

Regarding the petition, the official said, "Some might think that there are many accesses from China to the 'Support President Moon' petition, so I will share related statistics," and added, "When classifying the visitors by region, 96.8% were domestic, the United States 1%, and China 0.02%."

Meanwhile, Yoon Jae-kwan, deputy spokesperson of the Blue House, urged restraint, stating that some damage has occurred due to fake news related to COVID-19. Regarding reports such as the "mass resignation and unauthorized absences of nurses at Pohang Medical Center," Yoon expressed regret that those who had postponed their planned resignations for over a month and were struggling on the front lines were being slandered, emphasizing, "Now is the time for unlimited support and encouragement for those fighting on the front lines."

He also dismissed rumors circulating on social networking services (SNS) that photos of "presidential lunchboxes" provided to Wuhan evacuees quarantined at Asan and Jincheon facilities were lunchboxes given to Chinese international students, stating, "There have been no cases of presidential lunchboxes being provided outside of the Asan and Jincheon facilities. This is clear fake news."

Yoon added, "There have been many media reports about the government's negligence in providing medical supplies such as full-body protective suits to the Daegu area, but these were not true," and informed, "From today, detailed status reports on supplies and equipment provided to the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions have been distributed through the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters' regular briefings and press materials."

Yoon reiterated, "In an emergency situation, the spread of false information only causes greater confusion," and requested again, "Now is the time to unite our strength to overcome this emergency situation."

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