Yong Hye-in's Past Remarks Resurface... Stance on Subsidies Draws Attention 6 Years Ago

Yong Hye-in, nominee for the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, was confirmed to have argued for the abolition of state subsidies 6 years ago, comparing political parties receiving government subsidies to parasites.

In February 2020, the Basic Income Party posted a press release and photos on its official website titled "Abolish State Subsidies That Breed Parasitic Parties and Introduce Political Basic Income."

In the photos, nominee Yong is seen standing side by side with other participants, holding a sign that reads "Abolish State Subsidies and Introduce Political Basic Income."

Notably, the post also parodied the poster of the movie Parasite, featuring black bars drawn across the eyes of the participants, including nominee Yong.

In the press release at the time, the Basic Income Party claimed, "Parasitic politics targeting state subsidies are recurring," adding, "In particular, many political forces calculate state subsidies ahead of elections and merge or split accordingly."

They also criticized, "It is a National Assembly so dysfunctional that it is called an animal parliament, yet subsidies are paid out regardless of whether work is done or not."

At the same time, they proposed, "Instead of parasitic politics that merge and split based on subsidies, let's distribute state subsidies to the citizens and introduce an annual political basic income of 100,000 won so they can directly participate in politics."

Recently, after being nominated as minister, Yong expressed her intention to maintain her proportional representative parliamentary seat, stating, "If I, the party's only lawmaker, resign, it would be difficult as the Basic Income Party would become an extra-parliamentary party."

In response, some critics have raised backlash, calling it a tactical move, suggesting that if nominee Yong gives up her parliamentary seat, the Basic Income Party would find it difficult to receive state subsidies, which is why she cannot step down from her position.

Reported by Park Se-won | Video edited by Kim Na-on | Designed by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.