"Step Down!" Papers Thrown... Relentless Offense Continues

[Anchor]

Criticism is mounting against Yong Hye-in, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, who has stated her intention to serve as both minister and proportional representation lawmaker. The opposition camp is keeping up a relentless offensive, attacking the Basic Income Party as a family-run party amid allegations that nominee Yong previously participated in an underground faction of the Labor Party.

Reporter Kim Jin-u has the details.

[Reporter]

This morning (September 3), as nominee Yong Hye-in, a proportional representative lawmaker of the Basic Income Party, entered the confirmation hearing preparation office building, members of the progressive Future Party staged a surprise protest demanding her resignation.

[Since when did the Basic Income Party become a privileged party?]

Someone even threw multiple sheets of A4 paper.

[Lawmaker Yong Hye-in, step down!]

The People Power Party launched a sharp attack, claiming that "money" is behind nominee Yong's refusal to give up her proportional representative seat while serving as minister.

[Jang Dong-hyeok / Leader, People Power Party: The reason nominee Yong refuses to resign from her proportional representative lawmaker position is obvious. It is because the salaries for not only her spouse but also the organization would stop.]

If nominee Yong holds both positions as minister and lawmaker simultaneously, she would only receive the salary from the position that pays more.

However, the party claims she is insisting on holding both positions because stepping down as a lawmaker would mean losing office operational expenses and subsidies for the Basic Income Party.

The People Power Party went on the offensive, claiming that over the remaining 21 months of nominee Yong's lawmaker term, approximately 4.3 billion won in taxpayer funds would be provided, including 1.1 billion won for aide labor costs, about 1.9 billion won in regular political party subsidies, and around 1 billion won in general election subsidies two years later.

They also targeted the fact that nominee Yong's spouse, who serves as the strategic planning deputy secretary-general of the Basic Income Party, receives around 3 million won monthly as a party official salary, calling it a "family party" that distributes key party positions among family members.

They also raised suspicions that nominee Yong and her spouse were involved in an underground faction—referring to a clandestine activist organization—before the founding of the Basic Income Party, having been affiliated with the Labor Party and social organizations.

[Shin Dong-wuk / Lawmaker, People Power Party: Behind the Labor Party and youth labor organizations, there was an 'underground organization' that trained activists aimed at communist revolution and deployed them to public organizations.]

On the other hand, the Progressive Party issued a commentary stating that the hate offensive against the Basic Income Party, including outdated red-baiting, has crossed the line, and demanded an end to hatred disguised as verification.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Edited by Oh Young-taek | Design by Park Cheon-woong and Yang Gi-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.