Na Kyung-won calls Yong Hye-in nomination a 'rotten meat' ploy to shield Lee Jae Myung trial

People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won said the nomination of Yong Hye-in is both a constitutional disgrace born of the semi-proportional representation deal and a deliberate distraction designed to conceal what she called a scheme to drop the charges against President Lee Jae Myung.

Na wrote on her Facebook page Monday that Yong "is the biggest beneficiary of the loopholes in the semi-linked proportional representation system," adding that she "has never once faced a rigorous judgment from voters" and won both of her Assembly seats by appearing on the Democratic Party's satellite party lists.

Na said Yong collected votes and a lawmaker's badge without being a Democratic Party member, then staged what she described as a "fake expulsion" before returning to the Basic Income Party. She added that the party has been collecting about 1.1 billion won ($799,000) in annual party subsidies on the strength of that single seat.

Na said she was equally troubled by Yong's record as a vocal advocate for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law and a leading voice for legalizing same-sex relationships and marriage. She said the entire trajectory — street protests for political advancement, founding a party, acting as a satellite of the Democratic Party, trading a badge for a cabinet post — "is the ultimate embodiment of unfairness, mocking the efforts of young people who quietly nurture their dreams in schools, workplaces, and on the exam and job-hunting front lines."

Na said Yong was merely "bait," and that the real issue was the nomination of Kim Seung-won as justice minister. "Throwing Yong Hye-in to the front to provoke extreme conflict and draw a crossfire of public and media attention is a 'feint' strategy — a 'rotten meat' tactic," she said.

She went on to say that "the only way to correct this abnormality is to immediately resume President Lee Jae Myung's trial."