Gender minister nominee refuses to give up lawmaker seat, sparking backlash

A debate over whether a cabinet minister can simultaneously hold a parliamentary seat is widening across the political circle, with the nomination of Rep. Yong Hye-in as minister of gender equality and family emerging as a test case for the limits of parliamentary convention and the unresolved contradictions of Korea's satellite party system.

Yong, a two-term lawmaker representing the progressive Basic Income Party, announced Monday she would retain her National Assembly seat despite her ministerial nomination — a break with parliamentary convention that has since drawn criticism from opposition parties, women's advocacy groups and a growing number of voices within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) itself.

Yong secured both her terms on proportional representation tickets formed by satellite coalitions led by the liberal DPK. She justified her decision by pointing to an institutional gap in coalition politics.

"Due to an institutional void in coalition politics, the Basic Income Party is legally unable to succeed my proportional seat if I step down," she wrote on her social media. "As our party's only sitting lawmaker, my resignation would make the Basic Income Party an extra-parliamentary party."

If Yong resigns her seat, it would not pass to the Basic Income Party but to Ko Jae-soon, a former secretary-general of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation and a DPK member, in accordance with the proportional representation list order.

Even within the ruling DPK, opinion is divided, but the calls for Yong to choose between the two posts are growing louder.

DPK Supreme Council member Rep. Park Sun-won said she should relinquish the seat, arguing that proportional representatives chosen for their professional expertise have a responsibility to do so.

Fellow council member Rep. Choi Min-hee countered that the move is not legally binding, pointing to Yong's two consecutive proportional representation wins as evidence of her competence.

“We can make a judgment after hearing Yong's testimony during her parliamentary confirmation hearing,” Choi said.

DPK spokesperson Shin Hyun-young wrote on Facebook that she could not agree with Yong's plan to hold both positions simultaneously.

"Choose and focus on either the ministerial post or the lawmaker seat," she wrote, warning that the arrangement would inevitably escalate into a broader fairness controversy, particularly for a nomination billed as a bold generational shift in leadership.

Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that Yong should be given the opportunity to address the questions and doubts raised by the public through the parliamentary confirmation hearing process.

"We think there should be an opportunity for the minister nominee to explain herself through the confirmation hearing," a presidential office official said.

The main opposition PPP escalated its offensive, with Rep. Na Kyung-won describing Yong's situation as "a constitutional disaster produced by the semi-proportional representation system," claiming that Yong's refusal to step down was driven by the Basic Income Party's desire to protect its parliamentary status and the roughly 1.1 billion won ($802,219) in annual state subsidies that come with it.

“It is standard parliamentary practice for a proportional representative to relinquish their seat upon a ministerial nomination," Na said.

Na also announced plans to introduce what she dubbed the "Yong Hye-in prevention bill" — a revision to the Political Funds Act targeting parties that entered the National Assembly through satellite coalitions before returning to their original party via what she called "disguised expulsion."

"We will block the structure that allows parties that entered through satellite coalitions without independent votes to exploit state subsidies," Na said.

The Basic Income Party, meanwhile, pushed back against allegations that it receives state subsidies due to holding a parliamentary seat.

“The Basic Income Party became eligible for state subsidies by securing the support of roughly 290,000 voters — about 1 percent of the vote — in the 2026 local elections, surpassing the 0.5 percent threshold required under the Political Funds Act,” Oh Jun-ho of the Basic Income Party said in a statement.