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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Democrats weigh Yong Hye-in’s future as approval ratings continue to fall, hearing schedule adds uncertainty

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

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

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • The Democratic Party is debating whether Yong Hye-in should resign her proportional-representation seat before her confirmation hearing amid criticism of her plan to hold both the ministerial post and parliamentary seat.
  • The People Power Party is reportedly insisting on holding Yong’s hearing on Sept. 22, after earlier discussions about Sept. 16 or 18, potentially extending the dispute through the Chuseok holiday.
  • The controversy has been cited as one factor behind weak approval ratings for the Democratic Party and President Lee Jae Myung.

The Democratic Party is struggling to contain the fallout from Yong Hye-in’s decision to seek a Cabinet post while retaining her proportional-representation seat. The arrangement has triggered accusations of preferential treatment, adding pressure as approval ratings for both the party and President Lee Jae Myung remain in decline.

The People Power Party suddenly brought up the 22nd as the hearing date.

· Democratic lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family CommitteeThe lawmaker described the opposition’s latest demand for the hearing date.

The People Power Party is also pushing to prolong the confirmation hearing dispute. Political sources said the opposition initially discussed Sept. 16 and 18, but has recently insisted on Sept. 22. The Democratic Party wants to complete hearings for six ministerial nominees by Sept. 18, while the hearings for the other nominees have already been set for Sept. 15 and 16.

It seems the party leadership told them to prolong the confirmation hearing phase.

· Democratic lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family CommitteeThe lawmaker interpreted the scheduling dispute as a leadership-backed effort to extend the controversy.

The scheduling fight is being interpreted as an effort to keep the Yong controversy alive through the Chuseok holiday, when political issues traditionally receive heightened public attention. A Democratic lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family Committee said, “The People Power Party suddenly brought up the 22nd as the hearing date,” adding, “It seems the party leadership told them to prolong the confirmation hearing phase.”

I am listening carefully to the many concerns and criticisms and thinking deeply about them.

· Kim Min-seokThe Democratic Party leader commented on the controversy over Yong’s plan to retain her parliamentary seat.

Pressure is also building inside the Democratic Party for Yong to resign from her Basic Income Party seat before the hearing. Yong has said she will not follow the practice of resigning her proportional-representation seat when joining the government because the Basic Income Party will become an extra-parliamentary party. Attention is now focused on whether party leader Kim Min-seok will try to resolve the dual-office issue by conveying public sentiment to the presidential office. Kim said on Sept. 3, “I am listening carefully to the many concerns and criticisms and thinking deeply about them.” A ruling-party lawmaker said, “There are quite a few opinions within the party that Yong Hye-in should resign her parliamentary seat.”

There are quite a few opinions within the party that Yong Hye-in should resign her parliamentary seat.

· Democratic Party lawmakerThe lawmaker described growing internal pressure for Yong to give up her seat.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo 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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