Yong Hye-in, the nominee to lead the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, declined to answer questions about allegations that she turned a blind eye to sex discrimination within an "underground organization" she once belonged to, saying only that she would address the matter at her confirmation hearing.
Yong made the remarks to reporters on the 7th as she arrived at her confirmation hearing preparation office, set up at the Korea Youth Work Agency in Seoul's Seodaemun District.
She gave no response when asked whether she still intends to keep her National Assembly seat after being appointed minister, or how she views claims that someone else originally organized the silent march held after the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. She also stayed silent when asked whether her nomination was connected to presidential aide Kim Hyun-ji and what she made of calls from within the ruling bloc for her to step aside.
The underground organization Yong is known to have been active in is suspected of having operated as a behind-the-scenes group that exerted influence over major decisions at the Socialist Party, the Labor Party, Alba Solidarity, Youth Left and the Basic Income Party. Recent disclosures alleged that the group imposed discriminatory rules on its members, including abstinence before marriage and a ban on dating, and that Yong looked away from them.
Controversy has also flared over a line in Yong's official profile describing her as the person who proposed the silent march in memory of the Sewol victims. Claims have surfaced that the march was first proposed and organized in 2014 by someone other than Yong.
Other allegations include that she paid a salary to her spouse without following democratic procedures when assigning that person to a key party post, and that she paid excessive party dues as a means of reducing her taxes. Her confirmation hearing preparation team rejected the criticism, saying she had regularly paid part of her earned income as general party dues out of a sense of responsibility as her party's only lawmaker, and calling it ordinary political activity.
