From Debates to Labor Affairs... Allegations Emerge That Yong Hye-in Distributed Work to Acquaintances

[Anchor]

Suspicions are mounting that Yong Hye-in, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, has handed out work to her acquaintances. It has been found that beyond the production of election publicity materials, even seminar events and labor-related tasks were entrusted to those close to her.

Reporter Jo Yoon-ha has the details.

[Reporter]

Yong Hye-in, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, withheld her answers today (September 7) to a barrage of questions.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family: I will address this at the hearing.]

This is the activity result report from last year for the National Assembly Basic Income Research Forum, to which Nominee Yong belongs.

A total of four seminars were held last year, and three of them were co-hosted by lawmaker Yong Hye-in's office.

At the seminars held in May and September of last year, the director, deputy director, and senior researcher of the political and economic research institute "Alternative" served as presenters and moderators.

"Alternative" is an affiliated organization of a foundation established by an individual surnamed Kim, who had previously engaged in activities alongside Nominee Yong in a so-called underground organization.

The money paid out for honorariums and research project fees for these seminars amounted to about 5.3 million won over the past year.

Labor service fees from the party where Nominee Yong previously served as representative were also channeled to her acquaintances.

From February 2020 to the present, a single labor law firm has continuously handled the Basic Income Party's labor affairs. The representative of this labor law firm was a fellow member of the underground organization alongside Nominee Yong and served as a Supreme Council member of the Basic Income Party until recently.

The total amount paid out this way over seven years is 9.6 million won.

It has already been revealed that her spouse served as a party official, research projects were given to other party officials, and the production of the party's election publicity materials was also handed over to an acquaintance of Nominee Yong.

While working with political colleagues does not constitute a legal violation, critics point out that because it is effectively a one-person party centered around Nominee Yong, the phenomenon of concentrating work in areas such as personnel appointments, research, public relations, and labor affairs is particularly prominent.

Nominee Yong's spouse, Park Ki-hong, Deputy Secretary-General for Strategic Planning of the Basic Income Party, was elected as a Supreme Council member today.

The Ministry of Gender Equality's budget for next year stands at approximately 2.1 trillion won.

The minister is a position that exerts decisive influence over personnel appointments in six affiliated organizations and the commissioning of research projects by the ministry.

(Video capture: Ha Ryong, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Choi Hye-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.