Yong Hye-in Says Resigning as Lawmaker Would Leave Basic Income Party Without a Parliamentary Seat

Yong Hye-in, the sole lawmaker of South Korea's Basic Income Party, says resigning her proportional-representation seat could remove the party from parliament altogether.

Yong, who has been nominated as minister of gender equality and family, said on Aug. 31 that she intended to keep her National Assembly seat if appointed. She acknowledged concerns that doing so could look like a privilege or benefit, but asked for understanding of the difficulties faced by a minor party whose parliamentary future depends on one person.

“

If I resign, the Basic Income Party would face the difficulty of becoming an extra-parliamentary party.

“If my issue were unrelated to the party's future, and if I were not the Basic Income Party's only lawmaker, I would not have considered whether to resign,” Yong said. She added that an institutional gap in coalition politics meant her party could not arrange for another Basic Income Party member to inherit the proportional seat.

“

I understand the concerns that my resignation could be viewed as a privilege or benefit, but I ask for your understanding of the difficulties faced by a minor party whose future is inevitably tied to an individual's decision.

South Korea's National Assembly Act permits lawmakers to serve concurrently as cabinet members. However, proportional-representation lawmakers have traditionally resigned when taking ministerial posts, allowing the next candidate on the list to assume the seat.

Yong won her seat in the 2024 general election as a proportional representative of the opposition satellite party Democratic Alliance. If she resigns, the seat would pass not to a Basic Income Party candidate but to former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Secretary-General Ko Jae-soon, a member of the Democratic Party. The Basic Income Party would then become an extra-parliamentary party. Yong said she had already told her party that she would not run for proportional representation in the next general election.

“

If my issue were unrelated to the party's future, and if I were not the Basic Income Party's only lawmaker, I would not have considered whether to resign.