Response Rate 0.026%, Disappearing National Petitions... Yoon Administration Implements 100% Real-Name System

Presidential Office: "National Petitions Foster Public Conflict... Selective Responses Reveal Issues"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The online petition platform "National Petition," created under the principle of "The government answers when the people ask" to mark 100 days since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in administration on August 19, 2017, is disappearing. Although it had established itself as a communication platform with over 330,000 daily visitors and more than 700 petitions submitted each day, it was criticized for degenerating into a political issue arena that incited public conflict. The platform operated anonymously, and the process of disclosing its content also became problematic. In particular, it was pointed out as an issue that only 0.026% of the petitions that received more than 200,000 endorsements were answered.

The recently launched "National Proposal" section by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is 100% real-name based. While it is similar to past governments in allowing free submission of complaints, proposals, and petitions requiring relief regarding government administrative actions, the major difference lies in the principle of non-disclosure and real-name system as stipulated by relevant laws.

Kang Seung-gyu, Senior Secretary for Civil Society, stated upon unveiling the "National Proposal" section, "The Blue House National Petition under the previous administration was not based on the Civil Petitions and Petitions Act, so there was no legal basis for processing deadlines. Also, only petitions with over 200,000 endorsements were selectively answered, leading to criticism that the majority of complaints were left unanswered and shelved."

The National Proposal can be accessed through the Presidential Office website. It includes a civil complaints and proposals section for submitting complaints about administrative actions, a petition section for requesting corrections to public officials' duties or providing opinions on laws, ordinances, orders, and regulations, a video proposal section for digitally marginalized groups, and a 102 telephone inquiry service. The number 102 combines '10' from the 'yeol' (열) in 'Yoon Suk-yeol' and '2' from the Chinese character 'ear' (귀 이, 耳).

Senior Secretary Kang said, "We plan to form a joint public-private review committee of about 10 members and operate a National Excellent Proposal consultative body. Among the various National Proposals received, the committee will select excellent proposals focusing on policy suggestions, and then seek public opinion through online voting. Opinions that gain majority public agreement will be actively reflected in national policy management."

He added, "We are currently preparing a customized civil complaint proposal section for overseas Koreans, which is scheduled to open in July. We hope overseas Koreans will send many good opinions, which we will listen to carefully and reflect in national governance." However, comments representing the interests of specific organizations or groups will be restricted, and a "civil complaint responsibility processing system" will guarantee responses within the legally mandated processing period. This is because the previous administration's National Petition required over 200,000 endorsements for an official response, resulting in a response rate of only 0.026%.

Meanwhile, the National Proposal section will also hold monthly public communication events. The purpose is to intensively listen to public opinions and vivid voices from the field on specific topics. This month, the focus is on small business owners, startups, small and medium enterprises, and large corporations as proposal targets.