From Debates to Labor Affairs: Yong Hye-in Allegedly Handed Out Contracts to Acquaintances

[Anchor]

Suspicions are mounting that Yong Hye-in, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, handed out contracts to her acquaintances. Following the production of election bulletin materials, it has been found that debate events and labor affairs were also entrusted to people close to her.

Reporter Jo Yoon-ha has the details.

[Reporter]

Yong Hye-in, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, refrained from answering a barrage of questions today (Sept. 7).

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

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

A total of four debates were held last year, three of which were co-hosted by Representative Yong Hye-in's office.

At the debates held in May and September of last year, the head, deputy head, and senior research fellow of the political economy research institute "Daean" served as presenters and moderators.

"Daean" is an affiliate 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 disbursed for honorariums and research project fees for these debates amounted to approximately 5.3 million won last year.

Labor service fees for the party of which nominee Yong served as representative also went to acquaintances of nominee Yong.

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

The funds disbursed in this manner total 9.6 million won over seven years.

It has previously 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 bulletins was also handed over to an acquaintance of nominee Yong.

While there are no legal issues with working with one's political colleagues, critics point out that because it is effectively a one-person party centered around nominee Yong, the phenomenon of concentrating work allocations across personnel management, research, public relations, and labor affairs is 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 is approximately 2.1 trillion won.

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

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