[Anchor]
As public sentiment surrounding Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in continues to worsen, the Democratic Party stated that it "cannot just stand by," hinting that the party leadership may soon issue an official stance. Tomorrow's high-level party-government consultative meeting is expected to be a critical turning point.
Our first report comes from reporter Ha Jeongyeon.
[Reporter]
The Democratic Party had previously kept its distance regarding the fate of Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in.
However, as public opinion turned severe, the party stated yesterday that it is "urgently gathering opinions from both inside and outside the party," followed by this remarks today:
[Cho Gye-won / Democratic Party Spokesperson: Public sentiment among the younger generation is currently boiling over, isn't it? We cannot simply stand by, and some kind of measure is necessary.]
Hinting that nominee Yong's future would likely be discussed at tomorrow's high-level party-government consultative meeting, the spokesperson suggested the possibility that the party leadership might make its position clear.
[Cho Gye-won / Democratic Party Spokesperson: It is likely that the leadership's stance could emerge.]
While the presidential office is maintaining a principled stance of waiting until the confirmation hearing, the party appears to be taking the lead in effectively moving to cut nominee Yong loose.
The confirmation hearing for nominee Yong is currently the only one for which even the date has not yet been finalized.
In a phone call with SBS today, Representative Kim Jeong-jae of the People Power Party, who chairs the National Assembly Gender Equality and Family Committee, mentioned the possibility of holding the hearing on the 21st or the 22nd—the deadline for adopting the confirmation report—and stated that a full committee meeting will be held on the 15th to negotiate on witnesses.
Kim Yoon-young, former women's committee chairperson of the Labor Party who raised issues regarding nominee Yong's past activities in a so-called "underground organization," has expressed a willingness to testify at the confirmation hearing, though it remains uncertain whether the ruling and opposition parties can reach an agreement on adopting witnesses.
If the hearing is not held by the 22nd, President Lee Jae-myung could request the submission of the confirmation report again and push ahead with the appointment, but since worsening public opinion is a foregone conclusion, tomorrow's high-level party-government consultative meeting is expected to be a crucial watershed.
(Video by: Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by: Park Sun-su | Design by: Kim Ye-ji)
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