Democratic Party senior leader defends Yong Hye-in against 'free rider' criticism

Choi Min-hee, the senior supreme council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Tuesday that Yong Hye-in's nomination as minister of gender equality and family should be judged after her confirmation hearing, defending the nominee against criticism over her decision to retain her proportional representation seat in the National Assembly.

Appearing on SBS Radio's "Kim Tae-hyun's Politics Show" that day, Choi pushed back against critics who have labeled Yong a "free rider" for entering the Assembly twice as a proportional representative before being nominated to the cabinet. "When people criticize for the sake of criticizing, they only bring up the negatives," she said.

Yong said Monday that she would keep her Assembly seat, citing the risk that her party, the Basic Income Party, would lose its parliamentary status if she resigned — as she is its sole sitting lawmaker. Unlike constituency lawmakers, who trigger a by-election upon resignation, a proportional representative's seat passes to the next person on the party list. While it has been customary for minister nominees to give up their Assembly seats upon nomination, Yong said she would break with that convention, drawing criticism.

Choi said that, looking at the matter from a positive angle, being elected twice as a proportional representative showed Yong had the ability to earn that distinction. "A proportional representative stepping down from that seat before taking a minister post is not a legal requirement," she said, and went on to say she hoped the public would make a balanced assessment. "There will be a confirmation hearing soon, and it is not too late for the people to hear Yong's explanation then and make their judgment," she said.

Choi also rebuffed opposition criticism of Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister. People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok had described Kim's nomination as an appointment designed to secure the withdrawal of charges against President Lee Jae Myung. "Seeing Kim Seung-won's nomination as being about dropping charges is truly shortsighted," Choi said.

"Kim is a former judge," she said. "On matters of principle — such as abolishing supplementary investigative powers — he is very firm. I think it is that integrity that earned him high marks."

On the appointment of Lee Hae-min as presidential AI chief of staff, Choi said the move carried significance for the alliance between the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party. "The Rebuilding Korea Party's agreement to let Rep. Lee take the AI chief post signals that it is willing to join a broader coalition or merger going forward," she said, adding that she believed the president shared that view and called the appointment very positive. She also praised Lee, saying the two had worked together for two years on the science and technology committee and that Lee was highly knowledgeable and composed.

Asked about Rebuilding Korea Party leader Shin Jang-sik's doubts over Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok's sincerity on coalition and merger talks, Choi said she did not know what grounds he had for that skepticism. "The entire Democratic Party views the appointment of Chief of Staff Lee very positively. I think those doubts will be resolved before long," she said.

On the debate within the Democratic Party over whether to broaden its appeal to centrist voters or consolidate its traditional base, Choi proposed a division of roles as the solution. She said the party needed to simultaneously develop policies to attract centrists and work to heal supporters who felt hurt during the party convention process. "With a division of roles, we can push through this," she said.

She added that the debate itself was out of touch with reality — whether framed as "centrist outreach is impossible, we must only rally the base," or as "the base will vote for us anyway, so centrist outreach comes first." "Neither framing matches reality," she said.