[Anchor]
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has stated regarding the future of Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hye-in that it "cannot just sit back," hinting that the party leadership could release an official stance. Today's high-level party-government consultations are expected to be a critical turning point.
Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the details.
[Reporter]
The DPK had previously maintained a distance regarding the future of Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hye-in.
As public sentiment grew increasingly severe, the party stated the day before yesterday that it was "urgently gathering opinions from both inside and outside the party," followed by this remark yesterday.
[Cho Gye-won / DPK Spokesperson: Public sentiment among the younger generation is boiling over, isn't it? We cannot just sit back and watch, and some kind of measure is necessary.]
Indicating that issues surrounding nominee Yong's future would likely be discussed at today's high-level party-government consultations, the spokesperson hinted at the possibility of the party leadership issuing a stance.
[Cho Gye-won / DPK Spokesperson: It is expected that a position from the leadership could emerge.]
While the presidential office is maintaining its principled stance of waiting until the confirmation hearing, the party appears to be taking the lead to effectively push for nominee Yong's departure.
Nominee Yong's confirmation hearing is currently the only one for which even the date has not yet been finalized.
Rep. Kim Jeong-jae of the People Power Party, who chairs the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, mentioned in a phone call with SBS yesterday the possibility of holding the hearing on the 21st or the 22nd, the deadline for adopting the confirmation hearing report. She 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 willingness to testify at the confirmation hearing. However, 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 resubmission of the confirmation report and push ahead with the appointment. However, given that it is crystal clear public opinion would worsen further, today's high-level party-government consultations are expected to serve as a pivotal turning point.
(Camera Reporter: Kim Yong-woo | Video Editor: Park Sun-soo | Designer: Kim Ye-ji)
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