South Koreans Crash Site Trying to Sign Petition

They want parliament to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 1, 2024 11:20 AM CDT
South Koreans Crash Site Trying to Sign Petition
Protesters wearing masks of US President Joe Biden, left, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida perform during a rally opposing the South Korea-U.S.-Japan military alliance near the US Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, June 27, 2024.   (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans want to see their president impeached for "the omnishambles that South Korea is facing," reports the Korea Times. And they're showing up in droves at an online petition calling for that very thing. Time reports the parliamentary website that hosts the petition hasn't been able to withstand the crowds, with error messages indicating at least 30,000 people were trying to get to the site at the same time and site visitors experiencing up to four-hour delays. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik on Sunday vowed to get the technical issues fixed.

Despite the issues, more than 811,000 people have signed the petition since June 20, reports Reuters. (The country is home to about 52 million people.) Under South Korean law, petitions that garner at least 50,000 signatures must be sent to a committee that will decide whether it should go to a parliamentary vote. In this case, signees want parliament to introduce a bill to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, who petitioners allege is upping the chance of war with the North, is exposing South Koreans to health risks from water released by the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and is corrupt.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, took office in May 2022 and has suffered from approval ratings of just 25% in recent months. South Korea has impeached two presidents to date: Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 (he was later reinstated by the Constitutional Court) and Park Geun-hye in 2016. (She was later imprisoned.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X