[Anchor]

During a press conference today, ministerial nominee Yong Hye-in acknowledged that she previously participated in a so-called underground faction and that a sexist culture existed within it. She emphasized that she had criticized such a sexist culture at the time. However, what we verified turned out to be different.

This exclusive report is by reporter Jo Yoon-ha.

[Reporter]

Yong Hye-in stated that she participated in a private political faction called an underground faction from 2013 to 2017, and that she was also hurt by the sexist culture within it, adding that she empathized with her colleagues' issues.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family: Regarding the problematic sexist posts, when I first encountered them, I also criticized them, asking how anyone could still make such outdated and wrong claims.]

This issue dates back to February 2018.

It began when Lee Gahyun, former head of the Youth Labor Union, exposed that education on premarital chastity and abortion bans had taken place within the underground faction.

As the controversy grew, the Labor Party held a national committee meeting to discuss whether to issue a public apology.

Footage from the meeting at the time shows that nominee Yong spoke not in favor of issuing the apology, but against it.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family (March 2018): We are in a situation where not only the facts of the victimhood and the offenses, but even the actual facts themselves, cannot be conclusively determined.]

She used the term "individuals claiming damage" instead of "victims."

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family (March 2018): If we think that the process of empathizing with those truly claiming damage and solving the problem must go hand in hand with the healing of those claiming damage...]

Nominee Yong's logic was that even if the sexist education was true, the underground faction should apologize to the Labor Party, and it was not for the Labor Party to apologize to the public.

[Yong Hye-in / Nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family (March 2018): Even if everyone agrees to release the statement of apology, issuing such an apology unilaterally is also irresponsible, in my view. I ask the members of the national committee to vote down both the original and amended drafts of the apology.]

Some party members protested, arguing that the issue of sexism should be handled from the perspective of the victims.

[Has the Labor Party abandoned the principle of victim-centeredness?]

The motion to issue the apology was ultimately voted down.

Three months later, the education on premarital chastity and abortion bans was confirmed to be true.

Lee Gahyun, the initial whistleblower and former union head, even requested an investigation into nominee Yong, accusing her of turning party members who exposed the sexism into liars.

It appears difficult for the nominee for the Minister of Gender Equality and Family to avoid criticism that she may have prioritized protecting the organization she belonged to over implementing gender equality values.

(Video촬영: Lim Woo-sik, Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi)