An online petition demanding the impeachment of South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol has surpassed one million signatures on Wednesday. The petition was posted on the National Assembly’s website on June 24 and has garnered an average of 100,000 signatures daily, according to Korea Times.
A petition that gains over 50,000 signatures within 30 days is referred to a parliamentary subcommittee for review and could be submitted in a plenary session.
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which holds a majority in parliament, supports the ongoing petition and claims it accurately reflects public sentiment.
“The president must change first for the state affairs, now on the verge of a catastrophe, to get back on track,” stated DPK floor leader Park Chan-dae during a Supreme Council meeting.
On the other hand, the presidential office accused the opposition of attempting to push through contentious bills seeking the impeachment of high-ranking officials. A senior presidential official described the DPK’s actions as “anti-civilisational attempts to destroy the Constitution and its unheard-of legislative violence and coup d’etat.”
On Tuesday, the DPK proposed a motion to impeach four prosecutors involved in corruption investigations into former party leader Lee Jae-myung. The DPK also advocated for a special probe into the government’s alleged interference with a military investigation into a Marine’s death. This bill, viewed as a means to investigate suspicions of Yoon’s involvement, was previously vetoed but reintroduced after the new National Assembly term began in late May.
Amid these political developments, President Yoon Suk Yeol announced tax breaks for companies that increase shareholder returns. Speaking ahead of the government’s biannual economic policy announcement, Yoon said these tax benefits aim to reward companies that “actively expand dividends and push for [a] low-rate separate taxation on shareholders’ dividend income tax.”
According to him, the programme targets the South Korean market, which is undervalued due to opaque corporate governance and low dividend payouts.
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