"Concurrent Holding of Posts Permitted by Law," Insists Nominee; 63% View Yong Hye-in's Appointment as "Wrong"

[Anchor]

Yong Hye-in, the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family who has been embroiled in various controversies, held an emergency press conference today (September 10). She drew a clear line against voluntary resignation. She repeatedly stated her position that she will concurrently hold her roles as a proportional representative lawmaker and a minister, citing that the law permits it. While she intends to push through head-on until the confirmation hearing, concerns have emerged within the ruling party.

Our first report is by reporter Kim Jin-woo.

[Reporter]

Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family Yong Hye-in, who had previously avoided Q&A sessions with reporters on her way to work by stating she would explain various controversies and suspicions—such as the issue of concurrently holding a proportional representative lawmaker seat and a ministerial post—during her confirmation hearing.

This afternoon, she requested an unscheduled press conference at the National Assembly and passionately poured out explanations and rebuttals for over 30 minutes.

The conclusion was that she would give up neither her lawmaker seat nor the ministerial post.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family: The concurrent holding of a State Council member position by a member of the National Assembly is permitted by law as a principle. We must look back on whether the custom of resigning from a proportional representative seat was perceived as a division of spoils among politicians.]

In response to criticisms questioning whether she is clinging to her lawmaker seat because of state subsidies for the Basic Income Party, she sharpened her stance, stating, "The People Power Party, which receives tens of billions of won in state subsidies and acted as a gatekeeper for the ringleader of an insurrection, is a parasitic party." She also expressed dissatisfaction with criticisms coming from the Democratic Party.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family: I feel regrettable that even within some parts of the Democratic Party, there is a tendency to get swept up in groundless speculation and vicious agitation.]

Regarding criticisms calling it a "family party" due to her spouse holding a party position, she pushed back, asking what is wrong with a 40-year-old worker receiving an average monthly wage of 2.5 million won, and claimed that suspicions such as "channeling work to close associates" or "phantom provincial chapters" are groundless speculations.

This effectively amounts to maintaining a "my-way" approach despite various controversies and suspicions that have erupted consecutively over the 11 days since her nomination as a ministerial candidate, prompting critical reactions from both ruling and opposition parties.

The People Power Party urged President Lee to withdraw the nomination, calling it a "deception against the public and a case of the offender blaming the victim."

While the Democratic Party did not issue an official response, cold reactions within the party were prevalent, such as "At least an expression of regret should have been made" or "It sounds like she is telling the presidential office not to withdraw the nomination because she has no problems at all."

In the NBS opinion poll released today, 63 percent of respondents answered that the appointment of nominee Yong was a "wrong appointment," while 17 percent answered it was a "good appointment."

Regarding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, 47 percent considered it a "wrong appointment" and 24 percent a "good appointment."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
Reported by Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan, and Kim Yong-woo | Video by Nam Il | Graphics by Kang Yoon-jung and Yang Gi-tae
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.