An online petition calling for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to be impeached experienced delays and disruptions due to the large number of people trying to sign it, the speaker of the parliament said, promising to fix the issue as soon as possible.
More than 811,000 people have so far signed the petition, hosted on the National Assembly's website, since it went live on June 20. The petition calls on parliament to introduce a bill to impeach Yoon on the grounds that he is unfit for the job.
In a statement late on Sunday, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik apologised for the disruption, and said parliament would take action to uphold the public's constitutional right.
People trying to access the petition on Monday faced delays that lasted up to four hours. At one point, an error message showed more than 30,000 people were waiting to access the site.
There was no immediate comment from the presidential office.
The petition accuses Yoon of corruption, stoking the risk of war with North Korea and exposing South Koreans to health risks by not stopping Japan from releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant.
By law, parliament is required to assign any petition signed by more than 50,000 people to a committee which will then decide whether to put it to the assembly for a vote.
But the opposition Democratic Party which holds a majority in parliament is hesitant about turning the petition into an impeachment bill, media reports say, with a spokesperson saying the party has yet to discuss the matter.
The parliament can call for a president's impeachment with a two-thirds majority. The Constitutional Court then deliberates that motion and decides to remove or reinstate the president.
Yoon has been unpopular since taking office in 2022, with his latest approval ratings hovering around the 25 percent mark since April.
South Korea's parliament has twice impeached presidents: Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 and Park Geun-hye in 2017. Roh was reinstated by the Constitutional Court while Park was removed.
© Thomson Reuters 2024.
7 Comments
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Fighto!
The South Korean custom is to jail the ex-president once he or she is voted out. The same will almost surely happen to President Yoon. Which is a shame, since he is the most pro-Japan president in living memory (which is why he is despised by the public).
WoodyLee
""By law, parliament is required to assign any petition signed by more than 50,000 people to a committee which will then decide whether to put it to the assembly for a vote.""
Wow, now that is Democracy,
I can't imagine what would happen if this system is implemented in other SO CALLED FREE World Nations? they will all be impeached.
nandakandamanda
Waves of hysteria, probably fomented by DPRK who hate him.
People always want change, and look for someone to blame, but Yoon himself seems to have been relatively good for South Korea. (Seen from the outside, of course.)
GBR48
Make the majority of your citizens happy. Stay in power.
Damage the lives of a majority of your citizens. Get kicked out.
Politics isn't that difficult.
ian
25% Lol he should ask for advise from Kishida, 10% still kicking
TaiwanIsNotChina
A president is not a prime minister. Impeachment is supposed to be reserved for crimes.
Samit Basu
@Fighto!
That only happens to conservative presidents as conservatives tend to be more corrupt than virtuous liberals, none of liberal ones were thrown in jail.
The closest thing was former President Roh, who committed suicide to prevent the prosecution of his wife who took bribes behind his back. This strategy worked as prosecutors stopped going after Roh's wife following Roh's death because public optics looked bad, but the prosecutors themselves were prosecuted for improper and illegal prosecution and were thrown in prison when Moon took power.
Right now the impeachment charges against Yoon is more damning than the impeachment charges against Park. Yoon is surely going to prison after term.
@nandakandamanda
Yoon is widely seen as the second worst president since the end of dictatorship within Korea, the worst was the dude who bankrupted the nation and went to IMF.