The Democratic Party is taking sharply different approaches to Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister, and Yong Hye-in, the nominee for gender equality and family minister. The party has set up a dedicated response team to defend Kim, while keeping its distance from Yong, with some lawmakers publicly calling on her to withdraw.
Against that backdrop, some within the party argue it would be better to let Yong's confirmation hearing proceed in order to divert the opposition's firepower away from Kim. But concerns are growing that prolonging the personnel dispute could backfire, with the hearing schedule slipping and the president's approval rating falling.
Task Force for Kim, No Public Cover for Yong
The party set up a dedicated team on the 7th to counter allegations against Kim and began an active defense. Supreme Council members Han Min-soo and Jeon Yong-gi, along with Judiciary Committee member Kim Dong-ah, will take part in the party-level response to the opposition's attacks. Kim's confirmation hearing is scheduled for the 15th.
By contrast, calls have been mounting within the party for Yong to settle her position before her hearing. Rep. Lee Soo-jin, the ruling party's chief negotiator on the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, said the same day that "many lawmakers are saying the nominee should make a decision before the confirmation hearing." Rep. Park Jie-won also raised the possibility that she would fail, saying, "We will have to hold the hearing, but it will be hard for her to endure."
Kim Min-seok, the Democratic Party leader, also said of Yong on the 4th that he was "hearing many concerns and criticisms and thinking deeply about it," indicating he would respect public opinion. Unlike with Kim, the party is not moving to broaden its defense of Yong.
Hearing Seen as Way to Split Firepower, but Approval Slide Is a Variable
Even so, the nature of the appointment makes it difficult for the Democratic Party to formally abandon Yong outright. She was personally chosen by President Lee Jae-myung in the Aug. 30 cabinet reshuffle as a figure representing a broader pro-government coalition. Party leader Kim, who was elected on a core pledge of aligning the party with the administration, also faces pressure to avoid appearing to openly defy the president's appointment authority. That is why sentiment is emerging within the ruling bloc that the hearing should be guaranteed as a chance for her to explain herself, with the actual decision on her appointment to be made later based on public opinion.
On top of that, some in the ruling bloc make the pragmatic case that holding Yong's hearing could help divert the opposition's firepower away from Kim. A second-term Democratic Party lawmaker said, "With the opposition attacking nominee Kim Seung-won so fiercely, taking up the Yong Hye-in issue at a hearing as well would keep the firepower from being concentrated on one nominee alone." The lawmaker added, "One option is to let her explain herself at the hearing first and then judge afterward."
Questions have been raised about Yong holding both her proportional-representation seat and a ministerial post, along with allegations involving her spouse and a dispute over whether she has turned the Basic Income Party into a personal vehicle. The Basic Income Party maintains that Yong will explain herself directly at the hearing.
The problem is that the hearing may be delayed. The People Power Party wants Yong's hearing held on the 22nd, while the Democratic Party is calling for an earlier date. If the hearing slips to the 22nd, the dispute over Yong could continue right up to the Chuseok holiday.
President Lee's approval rating is also declining. In a Realmeter survey of 2,510 people aged 18 and older nationwide, conducted from the 31st of last month through the 4th of this month, positive assessments of Lee's performance came to 37.4%, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous week. That is the lowest since he took office, while negative assessments reached 59.5%. Disputes over nominees' qualifications that surfaced during the vetting process were also cited as a factor in the decline.
A first-term Democratic Party lawmaker voiced concern, saying, "If the hearing is delayed and the Yong issue keeps coming up through Chuseok, a drop in approval from the personnel dispute will be unavoidable." The lawmaker added, "With the president's approval rating falling, the longer this drags on, the more the negatives will stand out rather than the positives."
In the end, the Democratic Party does not have much time to decide. In particular, if the hearing is pushed to the 22nd, the controversy would extend into the Chuseok holiday, making it harder to press ahead with the hearing on the grounds of splitting the opposition's firepower.
