Controversy Over Concurrent Proportional Representation Seat and Ministerial Post... Exposing the "True Face" of Satellite Parties

[Anchor]

Lawmaker Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party ultimately chose to protect her parliamentary seat by giving up the ministerial nomination. Yong's excessive ambition to hold both positions at once has served as an occasion to once again expose the abnormal and distorted problem of "satellite parties" deeply rooted in South Korean party politics.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

A leadership meeting of the Basic Income Party was held today (September 14), a day after Yong Hye-in, the party's sole lawmaker, resigned yesterday as the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family.

Lawmaker Yong and Supreme Council member Park Ki-hong, who is her spouse, attended together.

Yong remained tight-lipped when asked about criticisms regarding her "belated resignation."

[Yong Hye-in / Lawmaker, Basic Income Party: I already stated my position during yesterday's press conference.]

After stepping down—having previously questioned why a proportional representation lawmaker cannot concurrently serve as a minister—the Basic Income Party proposed banning lawmakers, including local constituency members, from holding ministerial posts concurrently by law.

Inside the Democratic Party, criticisms followed that failing to clearly resolve the dual-office issue in advance before nominating Yong was a blunder.

[Kim Eui-gum / Lawmaker, Democratic Party (KBS 1 Radio "Jeon-guk Sisa"): (Regarding Yong Hye-in's) issue of holding both a ministerial post and a lawmaker seat, shouldn't it have been checked in advance? The personnel vetting line needs to be reviewed.]

Voices are growing louder demanding that the distorted structure of "satellite parties," once again exposed by the controversy surrounding Yong, be overhauled altogether this time.

This is because both the background behind Yong being able to serve "two consecutive terms as a proportional representation lawmaker"—a rare feat in political circles—and the situation where resigning her seat according to convention would mean a Democratic Party figure, rather than one from the Basic Income Party, inheriting the proportional seat, stem directly from the "satellite party structure."

In 2020, the "semi-mixed member proportional representation system" was introduced under the pretext of expanding opportunities for minor parties to enter the National Assembly. However, as the two major parties mobilized the expedient of "satellite parties," the original intent of the system was rendered meaningless, and criticism that it distorts public sentiment is now fierce.

The Justice Party raised its voice, stating, "The problem does not disappear just because Yong, who became a lawmaker through a satellite party, resigned from her nomination," and adding, "The 'system hacking' of creating satellite parties to trade parliamentary seats must not be repeated."

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Video reporting: Shin Dong-hwan and Kim Yong-woo, Video editing: Yu Mi-ra, Design: Lee Jong-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.