Yong Hye-in Defiant on Holding Dual Roles, While 63% View Nomination as 'Wrong'

[Anchor]

Yong Hye-in, the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family who has been embroiled in various controversies, held a rebuttal press conference yesterday (September 10). Making clear her stance to maintain both her proportional representation lawmaker seat and the ministerial post, she signaled that she has no intention of stepping down voluntarily and will push through to the confirmation hearing, which has sparked concerns even within the ruling bloc.

Reporter Kim Bo-mi has the details.

[Reporter]

Nominee Yong Hye-in had previously avoided Q&A sessions with reporters on her way to work, stating she would explain various controversies and suspicions—such as holding dual roles as a proportional representative lawmaker and a minister—during her confirmation hearing.

Yesterday afternoon, however, she called an unscheduled press conference at the National Assembly and spent over 30 minutes delivering explanations and rebuttals.

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

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family: As a matter of principle, the law permits a member of the National Assembly to concurrently serve as a member of the State Council. We must look back and reflect on whether the convention of resigning from a proportional representative seat has been viewed merely as a way for politicians to divide up spoils.]

In response to criticisms questioning whether she is clinging to her lawmaker seat because of state subsidies for her political party, she fired back, calling the People Power Party a "parasitic party" that "acted as gatekeepers for a leader of an insurrection while receiving tens of billions of won in state subsidies." She also expressed frustration over criticisms coming from the Democratic Party.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family: I am deeply regretful that even a faction within the Democratic Party tends to get swept up in groundless speculation and malicious agitation.]

Regarding accusations of running a "family party" because her spouse holds 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. She further dismissed allegations such as "awarding work contracts to close associates" and "ghost regional chapters" as groundless speculation.

Despite a succession of controversies and suspicions erupting since her nomination as minister, she has stuck to her own path, drawing 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 an "act of shifting the blame."

While the Democratic Party did not issue an official response, many within the party expressed cold reactions, such as "she should have at least expressed regret" or "it sounds like she is telling the presidential office that she has no problems and the nomination must not be withdrawn."

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

As for Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won, 47 percent viewed the selection as a "wrong personnel choice" and 24 percent as a "good personnel choice."

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