Ruling and Opposition Parties Clash Over Alleged Behind-the-Scenes Role in Yong Hye-in’s Selection

A dispute over Yong Hye-in’s qualifications as a nominee for South Korea’s gender equality and family ministry has escalated into a political fight over who stood behind her selection.

On the fifth, the People Power Party turned its attention to Kim Hyun-ji, widely regarded as an aide close to President Lee Jae-myung and the head of the presidential office’s first personnel secretariat.

The opposition party questioned whether Kim had intervened in Yong’s selection and in her refusal to give up her proportional-representation parliamentary seat. The Democratic Party dismissed the allegations as baseless conspiracy theories.

The controversy began with an issue involving a former full-time deputy spokesperson of the Democratic Party, though the supplied report ends before providing further details.