Online petition critical of Moon Jae-in administration draws attention

By Kang Seung-woo

An online petition critical of the Moon Jae-in administration's policy missteps and beleaguered current and former officials has received widespread attention.

President Moon Jae-in / Yonhap

The petition, made public at Cheong Wa Dae website, Thursday, in the form of a written appeal to a king during the 1392-1910 Joseon era, criticized the government's policies in various fields of real estate, taxes, foreign and economic policy and personnel management.

As of 5 p.m., Friday, it has garnered more than 279,000 signatories. Any petition that gets more than 200,000 signatures within a month requires an official response from the presidential office.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping the nation and hitting its economy hard, lawmakers and government officials are merely busying pursuing private interest, while preventing the President from gauging the public sentiment toward the administration,” the petitioner wrote.

The petitioner called on Moon to lower taxes, carry out policies in a rational manner, pursue pragmatic diplomacy, respect human desires, appoint personnel selectively, maintain the values of the Constitution and change himself.

In the petition, the writer took frequent jabs at active and former aides to Moon.

“There are a bunch of houses, the prices of which have increased by 1.1 billion won ($929 million), but one official claims that they only rose by 11 percent (during the three years of the Moon administration),” the petitioner said, targeting Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee, who made the claim last month in response to public outcry over soaring housing prices.

Hinting at Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae who uploaded postings defending the government's real estate policy, he said, “Another official advises the government about its real estate policy, forgetting their main job.”

The petitioner also criticized presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min and former presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom. Noh, who urged senior Cheong Wa Dae officials having multiple homes to dispose of them except for a main residence in July, was under fire for also having two, while Kim stepped down over an alleged speculative real estate investment in a lucrative urban redevelopment zone in Seoul.

The petitioner, later identified through a media interview as a man in his 30s with two children, said he wrote the post in a hope that Moon will administer state affairs without being swayed by incompetent aides or those with self-interest.

In an interview with the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, the petitioner, who described himself as a supporter of the late President Roh Moo-hyun, said, “What I am seeking from the petition is to tell hard truths to an administration that I support, hoping that it will run the state well.” Moon served as the chief of staff for Roh, who ran the country from 2003 to 2008.

Meanwhile, the man initially posted the petition on Aug. 12, but it took 15 days to be made public, raising speculation that the presidential office may have slowed down the posting process intentionally.

According to the regulations, when a petition is posted, Cheong Wa Dae assigns an online address to its writer, who can upload the link on social media for people to read. If at least 100 people sign the petition, Cheong Wa Dae allows the public to see it on the official website.

“We underwent standard procedures and as soon as the process was finished, the petition was posted,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said.