Yong Hye-in, a lawmaker of the Basic Income Party nominated as Minister of Gender Equality and Family, has announced that she will not step down from her parliamentary seat.
Candidate Yong stated on her social media this afternoon (August 31), "I am carefully sharing my position," adding, "I am well aware of the various concerns that resigning from the lawmaker position could be perceived as seeking privileges or benefits."
Explaining her reason for not being able to resign, she stated, "Due to a institutional vacuum in coalition politics, the Basic Income Party cannot succeed the proportional representation lawmaker seat." She added, "If I, the sole lawmaker belonging to the party, resign, the party would face the difficulty of becoming an extra-parliamentary party."
While the National Assembly Act allows lawmakers to concurrently serve as members of the State Council, it has been customary for proportional representation lawmakers to resign upon joining the Cabinet so that the next candidate in line can succeed the seat.
However, because Candidate Yong was elected as a proportional representation candidate for the Democratic Alliance in the 2024 general election, her resignation would lead to Koh Jae-soon, former secretary-general of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea rather than the Basic Income Party, succeeding the lawmaker seat.
Candidate Yong added, "I have already stated to the party that I will not run as a proportional representation candidate in the next general election."
Nevertheless, controversy has already erupted over the appropriateness of her nomination given her past actions, and the opposition party is intensifying its backlash now that her policy to maintain her lawmaker seat has been made known.
Targeting President Lee Jae-myung's nomination of Candidate Yong, Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok used a derogatory term for extreme hardline feminists and strongly criticized, saying, "Why are you touching that again after cleaning them up?"
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon also sharply criticized Candidate Yong, calling her "a figure who will amplify social conflict and a symbolic case of unfairness, such as the controversy over VIP treatment for lawmakers."
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo also fiercely condemned her, stating, "Appointing a candidate who has stoked conflict will be a self-destruct card for the administration," and adding, "Maintaining a proportional lawmaker seat even after becoming a minister is acting like nobility."
Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
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