Editorial: Yong Hye-in's Dual Role as Minister and Proportional Lawmaker Is Hard to Justify

Yong Hye-in is facing demands to give up her proportional-representation parliamentary seat after being nominated as minister of gender equality and family. Asked on the way to her confirmation-hearing preparation office whether holding both positions amounted to an exclusive privilege, Yong said she was listening to concerns but again deferred an explanation to the hearing.

The presidential office said she should have an opportunity to explain herself through the confirmation process. Even members of the ruling party, however, have said that holding both positions would be difficult. Public anger has been particularly strong among younger people, and the editorial argues that Yong may be treating the issue too lightly.

Some attacks on Yong and her party have gone too far, the editorial says, including claims that a powerful lawmaker is merely performing the role of a working mother, as well as mockery of the party based on her spouse's position as its secretary-general. But it finds the arguments for keeping both posts unconvincing.

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I will prepare well for the confirmation hearing.

The claim that resignation would leave the Basic Income Party without a parliamentary seat is especially weak, it argues. Unlike constituency lawmakers, proportional lawmakers have traditionally resigned when joining a cabinet or the presidential office. Yong won her seat in the 2024 general election as a member of the proportional coalition party Democratic United, rather than directly as a Basic Income Party candidate. If she resigns, the next candidate on the Democratic United proportional list would inherit the seat. Keeping it would therefore deny that candidate a chance to serve, the editorial says.

The editorial also rejects the argument that losing parliamentary status would make normal party operations impossible. It points to extra-parliamentary progressive parties such as the Justice Party and Green Party, which operate on membership dues without government subsidies. If the Basic Income Party cannot survive without retaining what the editorial calls a privilege secured through participation in a proportional coalition, it says Yong should consider giving up the ministerial post. The confirmation hearing should test her qualifications and policy ability, not become a forum for defending the dual role.

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There are various opinions, and I am also listening to the many concerns and worries.