Yong Hye-in, the nominee for minister of gender equality and family, broke eight days of silence to defend herself against mounting allegations, but criticism within the ruling bloc has instead intensified after it emerged that even the presidential office was unaware the press conference would take place.
Yong held a 35-minute press conference at the National Assembly on the 10th, addressing questions over holding a cabinet post and a lawmaker's seat at the same time, along with other allegations raised against her. "A lawmaker serving concurrently as a cabinet member is a principle permitted by law," she said, making clear she intends to keep her proportional representation seat.
Responding to calls from within the Democratic Party for her to give up her seat, she said the practice of resigning a proportional seat deserves scrutiny as to whether it reflects a "carving up the spoils" mentality among politicians. On her nomination, she argued that appointing a sitting opposition lawmaker as a minister was "the first such case since the DJP coalition," referring to the alliance between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil, and said "the intent behind the coalition should also be read."
Yong did not report to her confirmation hearing preparation office earlier in the day, prompting speculation in political circles that she might step down either as nominee or as a proportional lawmaker. Instead, she used the press conference to reaffirm her intention to see the process through, fueling discontent inside the Democratic Party.
Hong Ihk-pyo, the presidential secretary for political affairs, said on YTN Radio that day that "we did not know it was happening either," adding that the office is "watching very closely how the public will take it." The remarks publicly confirmed that the press conference had not been coordinated in advance with the presidential office.
Hong said concerns within the ruling bloc about Yong were reaching the presidential office as well. "It is true that a great deal of concern is coming in from inside and outside, and it is coming especially from the ruling party, so we are watching the situation carefully," he said.
Democratic Party figures also said the press conference was unlikely to help public opinion. One lawmaker from the Seoul metropolitan area said the contents would "have an adverse effect on public opinion" and would "be a burden on both the ruling party and the president." A ruling bloc official noted that the conference was held on the day President Lee returned from a state visit to France, calling it "like pouring oil on a fire."
The People Power Party seized on Yong's declaration to press the president to withdraw the nomination. Choi Bo-yoon, the party's chief spokesperson, said in a statement that "far from stepping down voluntarily, she issued an arrogant declaration that she will hold out to the end," calling it "a direct challenge to the public and a dismal charade of deception." She added that Yong "insisted an unprecedented display of privileged dual office-holding was a principle permitted by law," and urged the president to "acknowledge this personnel disaster and withdraw the nomination immediately."
Kim Jae-sup, a People Power Party lawmaker, also criticized the event, saying Yong's press conference "was consistently about blaming others, deceiving the public and wallowing in self-pity rather than offering honest explanations or resigning," and calling it "a declaration of war on the public."
The presidential office, however, says it is not yet at the stage of withdrawing the nomination. Asked whether the nomination would be pulled, Hong said the president "came back today, so it needs to be discussed once more," while adding that "there has been no major change from the existing position so far." President Lee returned from the state visit to France that day.
At the press conference, Yong said allegations of "phantom" provincial party chapters set up to receive state subsidies involved "no false registration and nothing unlawful under the Political Parties Act." On accusations that the party was a "family party," she said there were "no procedural flaws" and that she had consulted party staff and activists. On allegations of an "underground" organization, she said it "was dissolved on its own in 2017 because of a sexually discriminatory and hierarchical culture and a lack of capacity."
Public opinion has turned negative amid the controversy. In a survey of 1,035 adults nationwide conducted on the 7th and 8th by Media Tomato for News Tomato, 73.4% said they opposed Yong's appointment as minister of gender equality and family. Support stood at 18.4%, while 8.3% said they did not know.
Opposition was dominant across gender, age, region and political leaning. Among people in their 30s, opposition exceeded 80%, and it topped 60% in every region, including 67.2% in the Honam area. Among Democratic Party supporters, 54.2% opposed the appointment, while opposition among Rebuilding Korea Party supporters was higher at 64.7%. In the same survey, 55.7% opposed the appointment of Kim Seung-won as justice minister. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
