The criticism against Yong Hye-in has crossed the line

The ruling and opposition parties. All media outlets.
It feels like watching the Cho Kuk scandal, but it's different from Cho Kuk. It is truly bad.
While I respect such opinions, I felt that the tone was different from the usual criticism directed at the existing Democratic Party or the People Power Party and was excessive. I am sharing this because I empathize with the views of Mr. Kim Ho-kyung and the writings he cited. If you dislike the titles of "advanced nation" and "democratic nation" and simply want Korea to remain a totalitarian, immature democratic nation where social mobbing prevails, then you do not have to empathize.
To my eyes, those who curse democratic forces by calling them "Jeolla-do North Korean sympathizers" every other word, or those who curse others as "pro-China/pro-Japan traitors," look similar; it is no different from that.
Yong Hye-in's husband, Park Ki-hong, was born in 1987. He graduated from Mokpo High School and Korea University's School of Media (Class of '06). He was an active social activist from an early age, participating in groups such as the Youth Presidential Campaign (composed of student organization members like Saram-yeondae), the Youth Green Network, and the Alba Union. In 2014, during his 20s, he ran for the Seoul Metropolitan Council in the June 4 local elections as a Labor Party candidate, with "enacting a 10,000 won minimum wage ordinance" as his representative pledge (he was the youngest male candidate at the time, aged 26).
In May 2014, he was taken into custody after participating in a "Stay Still" silent protest related to the Sewol Ferry tragedy in Gwanghwamun. (He formed a friendship with Yong Hye-in around this time and showed solidarity by posting a proposal for the "Stay Still" Sewol Ferry memorial march on the Blue House bulletin board.)
He also served as the representative of the Youth Left, a progressive youth political community. Since the founding of the Basic Income Party in January 2020, he has served as the Head of the Strategic Planning Division of the Founding Preparatory Committee, the first Secretary-General, Head of the Strategic Planning Office, and Head of the Planning and Coordination Office, and currently serves as the Vice Chairperson of Strategic Planning.
Given his background and his role as a pivotal member since the founding stage of the Basic Income Party, it is natural for him to receive a monthly salary of approximately 3 million won as a major party official. However, malicious reports claiming that "salaries were handed out" simply because he is Yong Hye-in's husband are flooding in.
This is a blatant, low-quality tactic that intentionally hides the history and contributions of Park Ki-hong, a "youth politician" who has built long-term field experience, and only highlights the fact that he is "Yong Hye-in's husband."
It is basic for them to twist her past remarks by stripping them of context or exaggerating them, and this pattern of conducting distorted reporting by digging into her acquaintances, organizations, and even family will likely escalate further.
Unlike general cases where a seat is inherited by the next candidate if a member resigns, if the Basic Income Party falls into the status of an outside-parliamentary party, it will be excluded from receiving state subsidies. In this sense, since many party officials' livelihoods could be cut off and the organization could collapse, even if I were Yong Hye-in, I would not be able to make a hasty choice.
People talk so easily, but if they were in such a situation, wouldn't anyone suffer deep agony?
If she were a selfish person who only thought of herself, she would easily abandon her proportional representation seat, which has only 1 year and 6 months left, and instead prepare to run for a local constituency in the April 2028 general election.
(Going back to the repetitive issue of satellite parties: ahead of the general election, after the People Power Party unilaterally broke the negotiation and pushed forward with the creation of satellite parties, the Democratic Party had to make an inevitable choice understood by many citizens to prevent the People Power Party from taking the position of the largest party in parliament; even then, it must be considered that they conceded seats to allow small progressive parties to enter parliament.)
While it is legally permitted for National Assembly members to concurrently hold ministerial positions, if that were such an incredibly unfair act, members like Kim Seung-won and Lee So-young of the Democratic Party are essentially the same. So why is there this frenzy directed only at Yong Hye-in?
There are countless media tragedies that evoke déjà vu, such as the witch hunts of Yoon Mee-hyang and the Korean Women's Association United (KWAU). Hyena-like media outlets are always waiting for such moments, and whenever a victim is torn apart and bleeds, the public falls into the illusion of realizing justice and enthusiastically bares their teeth together.
As someone who has supported Yong Hye-in's upright attitude and activities, including her efforts to clarify the truth of the Itaewon tragedy and support the bereaved families, I am sick of the recurring madness of the media and the public whenever the time comes.
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▲ Statement from Moon Mi-jung, Acting Representative of the Basic Income Party
- The remarks from certain circles of the People Power Party regarding a "family party" or a "one-person party" are criticisms that cross the line of minimum decency. The Basic Income Party is a party that values democratic operation and is run under a collective leadership system. It is a party with approximately 20,000 members and hundreds of delegates who make important decisions together. Appointments for major party positions are also decided after deliberation and consultation by the Supreme Council.
In that regard, regardless of who his family is, we appropriately appoint those necessary for the task at hand. The claim that someone who played an important role from the founding to the growth of the party should not work as a party official simply due to a private relationship with Representative Yong Hye-in is nothing more than a misunderstanding of public order and an attempt to disparage the Basic Income Party, a democratic party. Furthermore, it is an extremely outdated idea that denies the freedom of choice of occupation. To suggest that a party official should not even receive parental leave or wages simply because they are the family of a politician—what kind of country's labor law is that?
In fact, I have known Vice Chairperson of Strategic Planning Park Ki-hong longer than I have known Representative Yong Hye-in. Vice Chairperson Park is a social activist with a long history of activity even before the party's founding, and a wonderful comrade who performs essential tasks for the party, even if they are not glamorous, starting from his role as Head of the Strategic Planning Division during the founding preparatory committee to Secretary-General, Vice Chairperson of Organization, and currently Vice Chairperson of Strategic Planning.
It is very unjust to disparage his contributions to the party simply because of who his family is and to condemn a public party as a party operated based on private relationships. Not only I, but many comrades in the Basic Income Party share this same view.
▲ Facebook post of Shin Ji-hye, Supreme Council Member of the Basic Income Party
- To disparage the Basic Income Party, its officials, and its members by calling it a "family party" because Representative Yong Hye-in's spouse holds a key party position is an insult to all of us. I was the standing representative of the second Basic Income Party immediately after it became a parliamentary party, and I have led the party in roles such as spokesperson and Supreme Council member. Representative Yong's spouse is also a colleague who helped achieve the founding of the party. It is unjust to portray a colleague who has held party positions based on ability as having received "preferential treatment" due to a marriage relationship established before the party's founding.
Immediately after the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, I was the standing representative of the Basic Income Party until Representative Yong's spouse returned from parental leave. Furthermore, the Basic Income Party is not a party operated by the influence of a single person. The Basic Income Party is a party that values deliberation and democratic decision-making. Regardless of personnel verification, I will continue to deal strictly with any attempts to insult the Basic Income Party and its members.
- In an editorial in Kyunghyang Shinmun yesterday, they used the malicious expression that Representative Yong "self-nominated." While it is true that Representative Yong was the party leader during the 2024 general election, the Basic Income Party's recommendation quota was finalized through the party's decision-making process. Even when criticizing, shouldn't the same standard applied to other parties be used?
Throughout her parliamentary activities, she has cooperated with progressive media to build a better society. When Representative Yong was a member of the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee, I supported her reporting duties as the spokesperson for the Basic Income Party. While the Yoon Suk-yeol government was preoccupied with divisive politics by claiming they would abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, we spent time struggling alongside many progressive journalists to communicate the necessity of the Ministry based on objective facts and data.
Yet, is it true that even the progressive media is busy mindlessly transcribing data released by the People Power Party stating "0 bills introduced by the Gender Equality Committee"? I do not think the progressive media is unaware that the laws Representative Yong introduced for parents on parental leave or laws related to preventing intimate partner violence are gender equality-related bills. It is very regrettable that even the progressive media joins in the People Power Party's labeling tactics just for clicks.
▲ Statement from Yong Hye-in, Candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family
- If this were a personal matter unrelated to the party's direction, and if I were not the only member of the Basic Income Party in the National Assembly, I would not have considered resigning my seat. However, due to the institutional vacuum in coalition politics, the Basic Income Party cannot succeed a proportional representation seat. Therefore, if I, the sole member of the party in the National Assembly, resign, the Basic Income Party faces the difficulty of becoming an outside-parliamentary party. I bow my head and ask for your understanding regarding the difficulties of a minority party where an individual's decision inevitably directly affects the party's direction.