Yong Hye-in withdraws bid for gender equality minister just 14 days after nomination
The gender equality minister nominee stepped aside after backlash over plans to retain her parliamentary seat.
Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Building in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Sept. 10.
NEWS1
Yong Hye-in, the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, withdrew her nomination Sunday amid intense political backlash over her refusal to give up her parliamentary seat and public pushback over her record on gender policy, two weeks after being named to the post.
"As the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family under the Lee Jae Myung administration, I am today setting aside both the ministerial nomination and my resolve to build a society of gender equality for all," Yong said during a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul.
Yong, who was named the nominee on Aug. 30, had come under pressure to resign from opposition lawmakers and some within the ruling party as well, amid controversy over her holding the nomination while retaining her seat as a proportional representative lawmaker. Concurrently holding a National Assembly seat and a cabinet post is legally permitted, but proportional representatives named as ministers have traditionally given up their seats, and Yong's refusal to do so would have effectively decided whether her Basic Income Party — for which she is the sole lawmaker — kept its status as a registered parliamentary party.
"I received a message from the Democratic Party saying that while it respects the position of the nominee and the Basic Income Party, given that there wasn't strong public consensus around holding a proportional representative seat and a ministerial post concurrently, it wanted the nominee to make a decision. Knowing their intention, I gave it serious thought as well," she said.
"A State Council member's role is to organically connect the National Assembly and the government and lead cooperation between them, and I concluded that carrying out that role would be practically difficult when even the ruling party has expressed concern. I judged that stopping here was necessary to carry on the spirit of solidarity within the democratic-progressive camp."
The 36-year-old, if she had been confirmed, would have become the youngest Cabinet minister in Korean constitutional history.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
