Celebrity's offer for online citizens' assembly criticized

Kim Je-dong

By Kim Jae-heun

A proposal by comedian Kim Je-dong, who has been vocal about President Park Geun-hye’s resignation for the last few weeks, to set up an “assembly of online citizens” was met with criticism.

Kim proposed the idea on We All Govern Lab (WAGL) founded by civic activist Lee Jin-soon, which has over 1,140 members. WAGL is an online group which says it is “dedicated to transforming the political status quo and ushering in a better kind of democracy.”

Kim’s offer was turned down by the majority of the members and met with dissenting opinions on social media over the weekend.

The proposal was initiated by a group of people with different occupations, including scholars, social activists, housewives and agricultural workers, who suggested voting online for representatives of their own citizens’ assembly launched by WAGL last week.

High profile figures, such as novelist Kim Hoon, Hwang Sok-yong and Yonsei University emeritus professor Cho Han Hae-joang also agreed take the online vote by the people and elect the group’s representatives to deliver a message to the government, media and the prosecution.

The election was scheduled to take place next Monday but people strongly disagreed with the idea.

Many wrote on the online discussion forum, asking not to distort the original intention of the candlelit protest. Some anonymous netizens wrote on the “online citizens’ assembly” website that it hardly makes sense that certain celebrities voting on social media will genuinely reflect the serious thoughts of 50 million people.

Actress Kim Yeo-jin, who demanded President Park Geun-hye step down, also tweeted, “Let’s not spoil the result of the President’s impeachment passed by the National Assembly with our ambiguous popularity vote.”

Veteran singer Lee Seung-hwan, who put up a banner on his building calling for President Park’s resignation, also asked for his name to be removed from the list of candidates for the citizens’ assembly. Lee wrote on Facebook, “It’s a bit awkward that my name has been included in the list of candidates for citizens’ assembly representatives. I’d like to remove my name. To deliver my thoughts carefully, I don’t think this is the right way.”

As more people protest the idea of electing citizens’ assembly representatives, WAGL posted an apology on the website and said it will withdraw the election plan.