Shin Hyun-young calls on Yong Hye-in to choose between minister and lawmaker roles

Shin Hyun-young, a Democratic Party spokesperson and former lawmaker, publicly criticized Yong Hye-in, the nominee for minister of gender equality and family, over her stated intention to retain her proportional representation seat in the National Assembly while serving as a cabinet minister.

In a Facebook post Monday, Shin said Yong's decision "cannot but appear as excessive privilege and greed" given that her appointment was billed as a bold generational shift in politics symbolizing younger voters. "It is something the younger generation can absolutely not accept, and it will trigger social conflict as a fairness issue in our society," Shin said.

Shin went on to say Yong should "choose one — the ministerial post or the Assembly seat — and focus on it," adding that Yong "already knows what the wise choice is to protect the Basic Income Party and ensure the success of the Lee Jae Myung administration."

Shin stressed that the post reflected her personal views, not the Democratic Party's official position. "This was written not as the Democratic Party spokesperson but as an individual, Shin Hyun-young, out of affection and care for candidate Yong," she said.

Yong responded Monday through social media, saying she was "well aware of the various concerns that my not resigning my Assembly seat could be seen as a privilege or benefit." She explained that because the Basic Income Party cannot transfer a proportional representation seat under the current coalition politics framework, her resignation would leave the party without a single Assembly member, effectively reducing it to an extraparliamentary party.