"Basic Income Party Is a Family-and-Aide Party": Ahn Cheol-soo Intensifies Criticism of Yong Hyein After Ministerial Nomination

Ahn Targets Backgrounds of Basic Income Party Leadership Candidates
Ahn Cheol-soo: "If Appointed Minister, the Ministry Will Become a Base for Her Followers"

The controversy surrounding Yong Hyein, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, over maintaining her seat as a National Assembly member has now expanded to include concerns about the Basic Income Party's organizational structure and government subsidy issues. Ahn Cheol-soo, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, has not only repeatedly criticized nominee Yong's plan to keep her proportional representation seat, but has also raised questions about the backgrounds of the candidates running for the next leadership of the Basic Income Party.

On September 2, Ahn posted on his social networking service (SNS) account an article titled "The Basic Income Party Leadership Filled with Yong Hyein’s Family and Aides," claiming, "In effect, the Basic Income Party is a party dominated by just one person: Yong Hyein."

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Nominee Hyein Yong. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Currently, the Basic Income Party is conducting a simultaneous nationwide party officer election from September 3 to 6 to elect new leadership and executives. For the party leader position, former co-leader of the Basic Income Party Junho Oh ran unopposed. Candidates for supreme council member included Gihong Park, Jihye Shin, Seoyoung Noh, and Chihye Noh, while Jinseo Kim ran for the youth supreme council member position. The Basic Income Party plans to start the new leadership's term on September 7.

Ahn pointed out that many of these candidates are either family members of nominee Yong or individuals who have worked with her either in her legislative office or within the party. Party leader candidate Junho Oh previously served as a secretary in Yong Hyein's parliamentary office, and supreme council candidate Gihong Park, the party’s Deputy Secretary-General for Strategic Planning, is Yong's spouse. Jinseo Kim, running for youth supreme council member, also served as a secretary in Yong Hyein's office.

Former co-chair of the Basic Income Party, Junho Oh, ran as the sole candidate for party leader, while Kigong Park, Jihye Shin, Seoyoung No, and Chihye No ran for supreme council member. Jinseo Kim ran for youth supreme council member. Ahn Cheolsoo, Member of the People Power Party, SNS.

Ahn stated, "Has there ever been a party where a single lawmaker, their family, and their aides monopolize both the party leader and supreme council positions?" He went on to criticize, "It is questionable why taxpayers' money should be spent on a party that essentially worships Yong Hyein as its 'Leader' and 'Supreme Dignity'." He further asserted, "If, as President Lee Jaemyung intends, Yong is appointed Minister, the ministry will merely become another base for her followers," and added, "The current state of the Basic Income Party is proof of this."

The Basic Income Party is fiercely pushing back against such characterizations as a "family party." Acting leader of the Basic Income Party, Moon Mijeong, previously responded that "'family party' and 'one-person party' arguments from some in the People Power Party are baseless slander," stressing, "The party is operated through a collective leadership system, and important decisions are made by over 20,000 party members and hundreds of delegates."

Regarding Deputy Secretary-General Gihong Park in particular, the party emphasized that "he has been a social activist with a long track record since before the party's founding, serving in roles such as Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General for Organization, and Deputy Secretary-General for Strategic Planning." They argued that simply being Yong’s spouse should not be grounds for questioning his eligibility to hold party office. The core of the controversy lies with Yong's 'dual role' as a minister and a lawmaker.

Holding a Dual Role as Minister and Lawmaker: Legally 'Permissible'

Yong has effectively indicated her intention to keep her proportional representation seat even if appointed as a minister, as of August 31. She explained, "If I, the only member of the Basic Income Party in the National Assembly, resign, the party will lose parliamentary status and become an outside party," and added, "I ask for your understanding regarding the challenges faced by a small party where an individual decision can directly affect the party’s path."

Jeong Cheongrae, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yong Hyein, Minister of Gender Equality and Family. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Under current law, holding both positions as a minister and a lawmaker is not illegal. Article 29, Paragraph 1 of the National Assembly Act generally prohibits members from holding other offices, but makes an exception for the Prime Minister and ministers. As the Minister of Gender Equality and Family is a cabinet member, Yong would be allowed by law to retain her Assembly seat if appointed minister. Therefore, the ongoing controversy centers not on illegality, but on the political custom and appropriateness of proportional representation lawmakers taking up ministerial posts, a frequent issue within political circles.

In practice, proportional representation (PR) lawmakers usually resign their seats upon being appointed as ministers, since the next person on the PR party list takes over the seat. Examples include former Minister of Culture and Tourism Kim Hangil in 2000 and Minister of Public Administration and Security nominee Lee Dal-gon in 2009, both of whom resigned their PR seats upon taking ministerial roles. In 2015, Kang Eunhee, then-nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family under the Park Geun-hye administration, initially intended to keep her lawmaker seat but eventually resigned amid growing controversy.

If She Resigns, Ko Jae-sun from the Democratic Party of Korea Succeeds to the Seat... Basic Income Party Becomes an Extra-parliamentary Party

However, maintaining her seat allows for the retention of her legislative office, aides, and the structure needed for parliamentary activities, in addition to preserving the Basic Income Party’s status as a parliamentary party. The main issue raised by opposition parties is less about “double salary” and more about retaining the advantages of parliamentary status and maintaining the party’s operational base.

The matter is further complicated in Yong’s case because she was elected in the 2024 general election not as a Basic Income Party candidate, but on the list of the Democratic Unity Alliance, a proportional representation coalition of opposition parties. Article 200 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that, in the event of a proportional seat becoming vacant, the next-in-line candidate from the PR list of the party the lawmaker belonged to at the time of election is given the seat.

Yong Hyein, a member of the Basic Income Party, is absent from the opening ceremony of the 430th regular session of the National Assembly held on the 1st at the main chamber in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon

If Yong resigns her seat, it would not pass to a member of the Basic Income Party, but rather to Ko Jae-sun, former Secretary-General of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is next in line on the list. Yong was elected in the 6th spot on the Democratic Unity Alliance’s proportional representation list in the 2024 general election, with Ko Jae-sun remaining on the list as a successor candidate.

Consequently, if Yong, currently the Basic Income Party’s only sitting member of the National Assembly, resigns, the party would be left without any parliamentary representation and would become an extra-parliamentary party.

This has led the People Power Party to argue that Yong is refusing to step down in order to maintain her party’s parliamentary status and access to associated benefits and support. In contrast, the Basic Income Party insists that the issue reflects institutional challenges faced by small parties and the complexities of coalition politics. The party has also countered recent criticisms regarding government subsidies, explaining that the increase resulted from exceeding the legal vote-share threshold in local elections, not from any wrongdoing.

Even within the ruling party, opinions are divided. While some, such as Park Seonwon, supreme council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, have stated it would be more appropriate for Yong to resign since a successor is available, others, including lawmaker Jin Sungjun, have defended Yong on the grounds that dual service as minister and lawmaker is legally permissible, and resignation in the case of PR lawmakers is generally a political custom, not a legal or moral obligation.

Meanwhile, on September 2, as she arrived for the first time at the hearing preparation office in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, nominee Yong was asked whether she would resign her Assembly seat. She replied, "I will consider the matter thoroughly during the confirmation hearing process and communicate my decision," without committing to a specific course of action. She added, "The hearing is not just a place for me to speak, but a process for engaging with the public," and continued, "I will make sure to be prepared so that I can share and discuss these matters as much as possible during the process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.