Last August 30th, there was a big issue on the official website of the Blue House when someone demanded a revision to the law to allow women to participate in the transition of mandatory military service. The petition closed on September 14, and about 120,000 people signed it. Through the petition, the conflicts between males and females escalated, and a number of petitions regarding gender equality were posted by each side. However, the current system, which still has ongoing conflict, is now becoming a trigger for the people’s right to participate in government.
  The people can demand what they need from the government. All citizens have the right to present a petition, and the national institutions are obliged to accept petitions when they do. However, neither a petition that infringes upon the authority of a nation nor a petition related to civil servants or their duties are permitted. Thus, a policy by the government called ‘A petition from the people’ was made to address the complaints of the people. In addition, there is a single online service regarding general civil affairs and administrative matters called ‘e-People’, and the government is trying to communicate with the public via the website.
  It is hard to find the first instances of petitions in human history, but their form has changed steadily. Protests have been used as the primary means in modern society, and the effects have not always been good. Many protests even became violent demonstrations. However, the candlelight protests that lasted from last year to the beginning of this year are a form of protest that have evolved recently. Furthermore, as technology advances rapidly, the methods have quickly changed. As a result, the participation of the people in the government through the Internet has become more active. Because of these changing and the petition concerning the women’s military service, people have begun to be interested in the policies that were once not well known to people. They have expressed various opinions about the conflict between men and women, and they actively participate in improving various policy issues in society.
  In fact, Kwak Na-yeong (’17, Dept. of Agricultural and Rural Engineering), who participated in the petition, said, “I partially agreed that women should serve in the army because women are citizens too. However, considering the physical limitations of women, I think that military service is difficult to do as men.” She also said, “I think it is positive that the correspondence between the government and the people has become more active than previous administrations. It is good to say that the government can hear various voices that might be hard to hear without the Internet. I hope that our country can develop the natural communication between the government and the people.”
  In this regard, the participation in the government by the people expressing their opinions about the policies is essential for becoming a desirable nation. Choi Hang-sup, a professor of Kookmin University, said, “The social conflicts have arisen in cyber space because there is no direct communication path to the government. The expectation that the new government will resolve the conflict and a hope that the government will be able to make problems go public are expressed by clicking the agree button.” Kim Seok-ho, a professor in the Dept. of Sociology of Seoul National University, said, “It is hard to believe that there something will be accomplished by posting petitions on the website of the Blue House. However, the people still participate in petitions to communicate with the government directly. It is significant that many citizens are participating in the government.”
  It is true that the conflict about women’s military service spurred interest in a petition by the people. However, it seems that the public is still immature in regarding to heightening tension in the conflicts between men and women. On the other hand, it is expected that this policy will pave the way for the formation of a future relationship between the government and the people. If the government continues to communicate with the people, our country will be able to grow into a nation for the people.

By Nam Min-woo
mw38@cbnu.ac.kr