Democratic Party "Cannot Just Sit Back"… Moving Toward Steps to Drop Yong Hye-in?

[Anchor]

As public sentiment surrounding Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in continues to sour, the Democratic Party stated that it "cannot just sit back and watch," hinting that the leadership may soon issue an official stance. Tomorrow's (September 13) high-level party-government consultative meeting is expected to be a critical turning point.

Our first report comes from reporter Ha Jeongyeon.

[Reporter]

The Democratic Party had previously maintained a distance regarding the future of Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in.

However, as public opinion turned grave, the party stated yesterday that it is "urgently gathering opinions both inside and outside the party," followed by this remark today.

[Cho Gye-won / Spokesperson, Democratic Party: Is public sentiment among the younger generation not boiling over right now? We cannot simply sit back and watch, and some kind of measure is necessary.]

The party suggested that the issue of nominee Yong's future is likely to be discussed at tomorrow's high-level party-government consultative meeting, hinting at the possibility that the party leadership will state its position.

[Cho Gye-won / Spokesperson, Democratic Party: Is it not possible that the leadership's position will come out? It appears that way.]

While the presidential office is maintaining a principled stance of waiting until the confirmation hearing, the party appears to be taking the lead and effectively moving toward steps to drop nominee Yong.

Nominee Yong's confirmation hearing is currently the only one for which even the date has not yet been finalized.

Kim Jung-jae, a People Power Party lawmaker who chairs the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, mentioned in a phone call with SBS today the possibility of holding the hearing on September 21 or September 22, the deadline for adopting the hearing report. She stated that a full committee meeting will be held on September 15 to negotiate on witnesses.

Kim Yoon-young, former women's committee chair of the Labor Party who raised issues regarding nominee Yong's past activities in a so-called "underground organization," has expressed willingness to testify at the confirmation hearing. However, it remains uncertain whether the ruling and opposition parties can reach an agreement on adopting witnesses.

If the hearing is not held by September 22, President Lee Jae-myung could request the resubmission of the confirmation report and push ahead with the appointment. However, as worsening public opinion is a certainty, tomorrow's high-level party-government consultative meeting is expected to be a critical turning point.

(Video reporting: Kim Yong-woo, Video editing: Park Sun-soo, Design: Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.