[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon, Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] A Blue House petition calling for the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in surpassed 300,000 signatures on the 26th.
The petition titled "We urge the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in," posted on the Blue House petition board on the 4th, had received 320,189 endorsements as of 6:42 a.m. that day. Accordingly, the Blue House must issue an official response within one month starting from the petition’s closing date on the 5th of next month.
The petitioner claimed, "Domestically, mask prices have surged more than tenfold and masks remain out of stock, making it difficult for citizens to purchase them, yet the president supported China with 3 million masks."
Regarding the government’s decision to ban the entry of foreigners who visited Hubei Province, the origin of COVID-19, the petitioner said, "They talked about international law, but when countries around the world imposed entry bans, the government only belatedly came up with this measure as if playing a waiting game." They added, "More than 5 million Chinese people left Wuhan just before the lockdown, so restricting entry only for foreigners who visited Hubei Province is equivalent to allowing all Chinese people to freely enter and exit Korea."
They continued, "The most important duty of the President of the Republic of Korea is to protect the citizens. If the president had considered the citizens, entry should have been banned for all regions of China," and argued, "Our country has only presented superficial measures and has not implemented any substantial countermeasures."
Meanwhile, a petition titled "We petition for the impeachment of President Moon" was also posted in April last year. That petition received more than 200,000 signatures, the threshold for a response.
At that time, the Blue House responded, "According to the Constitution, the impeachment of the president is a matter decided by the Constitutional Court following a motion by the National Assembly," and "We ask for your understanding that this petition is difficult for the government to respond to due to the principle of separation of powers."
Full text of the Blue House petition
As a citizen, I urge the impeachment of President Moon Jae-in.
Regarding the Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus) situation, the more I observe President Moon Jae-in’s response, the more it seems like he is the president of China rather than the president of the Republic of Korea. Domestically, mask prices have surged more than tenfold and masks remain out of stock, making it difficult for citizens to purchase masks, yet the president supported China with 3 million masks and has not taken any measures to address the soaring mask prices.
Furthermore, although a total of 62 countries worldwide have imposed strong sanctions such as banning entry of Chinese nationals and foreigners who transited through China, the government talked about international law and only after many countries imposed entry bans did it belatedly announce a measure that bans entry of foreigners who visited Hubei Province within two weeks starting from the 4th. This is absurd!
It makes no sense. It is not a ban on all of China but only on foreigners who visited Hubei Province, which is already locked down and closed. At a time when patients are emerging throughout China, this is unacceptable.
More than 5 million Chinese people left Wuhan just before the lockdown, so if restrictions are only placed on foreigners who visited the already locked-down Hubei Province, it is equivalent to allowing all other Chinese people to freely enter and exit Korea.
Currently, confirmed cases are increasing domestically, and even New Zealand, which has no confirmed cases, is taking strong entry ban measures, yet our country is only presenting superficial entry ban measures and no substantial countermeasures.
Currently, about 20,000 Chinese people continue to enter the Republic of Korea every day.
As the President of the Republic of Korea, shouldn’t the most important consideration be ‘protecting the citizens’?
If the president truly cared about the citizens, entry should have been banned for all regions of China.
I can no longer just watch silently.
It is difficult to consider Moon Jae-in as the president of our country. I urge his impeachment.
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