Rep. Yong should choose between Assembly and Cabinet
Rep. Yong Hye-in of the minor Basic Income Party is facing calls to choose between two jobs — lawmaker or Cabinet minister.
President Lee Jae Myung's nominee for minister of gender equality and family, Yong was elected to the National Assembly twice through the proportional representation system. In the past, politicians who entered the Assembly through proportional representation resigned their parliamentary seats when they took Cabinet posts or other key government positions.
Wi Sung-lac, a former lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), is the latest example. He gave up his parliamentary seat when he was tapped to serve as Lee's national security adviser. Before him, several other politicians, both conservatives and liberals, followed the same practice.
Yong, however, has chosen to break with that precedent. She said she has no plans to resign as a lawmaker, indicating that, if she passes her confirmation hearing, she intends to serve simultaneously as a Cabinet minister and a member of the National Assembly.
Her justification is that she must retain her parliamentary seat to ensure the survival of her minor party. The Basic Income Party has only one seat in the National Assembly, held by Yong. If she resigns, she says, it will lose its status as a parliamentary party. To prevent that, she argues that she must hold onto her seat.
However, people familiar with the party suggested that a more compelling reason may have prompted her controversial decision. According to them, the issue may be less about the survival of the minor party than about money.
Political parties receive subsidies from the National Election Commission based, among other factors, on their parliamentary representation. Because it qualifies as a parliamentary party, the Basic Income Party receives approximately 1.1 billion won ($800,000) in annual subsidies. The party would no longer be eligible for the subsidy if it loses its parliamentary status.
This could also have financial implications for Yong's family. Yong and her husband are a dual-income household, and her husband works as a party official for the Basic Income Party. It remains unclear whether this has influenced Yong's staunch determination to hold both positions if she wins parliamentary approval.
What people in key public offices — whether elected or appointed — should do when the public good clashes with their personal interests is obvious: put the public interest first. Yong should follow this principle.
Yong is also facing allegations of property speculation. Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party alleged that she made 20 million won in profit by selling her home in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, just one year after purchasing it.
Yong appears to have few allies as she weathers attacks from both sides of the political aisle. Lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties have urged her to choose between the two positions.
"There is a politician on the waiting list who would succeed her if she resigns. I think it is fair to give that person a chance to represent the public in the National Assembly," Rep. Park Sun-won of the DPK said on a radio program.
Another DPK lawmaker, Jeon Yong-gi, said the nominee should put herself in other people's shoes and consider how they would feel about her decision.
Even another progressive party has turned its back on the nominee.
The minor Justice Party urged Lee to withdraw the nomination. "Is it fair to designate a politician who has become a lawmaker twice through the proportional representation system to serve as a Cabinet minister? Can the Lee administration, which previously vowed to rebuild democracy, justify this decision?" it said in a statement.
Civic groups are not supportive either. The progressive women's organization Korea Women's Political Network accused the nominee of being unfit for the Cabinet post because of her legislative activities.
Yong is one of the core supporters of the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act, which stripped the prosecution of its authority to supervise police investigations into criminal cases. "Victims of sex crimes as well as disadvantaged people were crying out to stop the legislation because they would suffer once the amendment was passed. But Yong turned a deaf ear to their outcries," the group said in a statement. "How would such a person come up with safeguard measures to protect them?"
