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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Basic Income Party vows to join government as parliamentary party, confronting controversy over Yong Hye-in

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Newly elected Basic Income Party leader Oh Jun-ho said the party would participate in the government and support Minister-designate Yong Hye-in’s Gender Equality and Family Ministry.
  • The position effectively endorses Yong retaining her parliamentary seat while serving as minister, despite objections from members of the governing Democratic Party.
  • Oh won 93.89 percent of the vote in the party’s leadership election.

The Basic Income Party has chosen to confront the controversy surrounding Yong Hye-in’s proposed dual role as lawmaker and minister. Newly elected leader Oh Jun-ho said the party would participate in the government as a parliamentary party and work alongside Yong at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Speaking at a supreme council meeting in Seoul on the 7th, Oh said, “The Basic Income Party and Minister Yong Hye-in will work together so that President Lee Jae Myung’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family can deliver results.” He said a minister could not complete the work of achieving gender equality alone, arguing that a political force in parliament must take responsibility for the policies and push through strong political opposition.

The Basic Income Party and Minister Yong Hye-in will work together so that President Lee Jae Myung’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family can deliver results.

· Oh Jun-hoThe newly elected party leader described the party’s planned support for Yong and the ministry.

The party’s position assumes that Yong will retain her seat in the National Assembly while becoming minister. Shin Ji-hye, a supreme council member and party spokesperson, acknowledged that many people believe there is no precedent for holding both posts. But she said, “Whenever a new path appears, it must be challenged and attempted anew so that a precedent can be created.”

A minister alone cannot complete gender equality.

· Oh Jun-hoOh argued that a parliamentary political force must support policies and overcome political opposition.

Oh was elected the party’s new leader with 93.89 percent of the vote in its second-half national leadership election. Roh Seo-young, Shin and Park Ki-hong, Yong’s spouse and the party’s deputy director for strategic planning, were elected to the supreme council.

Democratic Party lawmakers continued to call for Yong to give up either her parliamentary seat or her ministerial nomination before her confirmation hearing. Lee Soo-jin, the party’s floor whip on the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family Committee, said on KBS radio that she hoped Yong would consider the issue carefully and make a decision before the hearing.

Whenever a new path appears, it must be challenged and attempted anew so that a precedent can be created.

· Shin Ji-hyeThe party spokesperson defended the possibility of Yong holding parliamentary and ministerial roles simultaneously.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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