Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Rep. Yong Hye-in stepped aside Sunday as opposition to her nomination spread into the ruling party, which had asked her to decide on her future as a nominee.
Yong, the sole lawmaker of the minor Basic Income Party, announced her decision at an emergency news conference at the National Assembly, just two weeks after President Lee Jae Myung nominated her for the post.
The decision came on the eve of a packed week of confirmation hearings at the National Assembly, with Yong’s the only hearing for which the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition People Power Party had failed to agree on a date.
“As the Lee Jae Myung administration’s nominee for minister of gender equality and family, I am stepping as of today," Yong said during the press conference.
“I am grateful to the president for the faith he placed in me by entrusting me with such an important responsibility, and I also want to express my apologies for being unable to fully carry it out.”
Explaining what led to her decision, Yong said the Democratic Party had conveyed that she should "decide on her future as a nominee" in light of the lack of public support for her decision to serve as a lawmaker and a Cabinet minister simultaneously.
Yong explained that the growing concerns within the ruling party would make it difficult for her to fulfill a Cabinet member’s role of bridging the National Assembly and the government and fostering cooperation between them.
“I concluded that it would be realistically difficult to carry out the role when even the ruling party was expressing concerns,” Yong said.
“I also determined that stopping here was necessary to preserve the spirit of solidarity among the Democratic Party, the Basic Income Party and the broader liberal and progressive camp.”
Rep. Kim Tae-seon of the Democratic Party, chief of staff to party Chair Rep. Kim Min-seok, disclosed Sunday in a Facebook post that he had conveyed Kim’s recommendation that Yong step down.
Echoing Yong’s call for solidarity, Kim said the ruling party would continue coordinating with the broader progressive bloc during a high-level consultation meeting among the party, the government and the presidential office later in the day.
“We will further accelerate discussions on solidarity and political reform with Rep. Yong Hye-in, who has withdrawn her nomination, the Basic Income Party and other progressive forces,” Kim said
Cheong Wa Dae respects Yong’s own decision
The presidential office, for its part, said it “respected the minister nominee’s decision” in a statement issued by senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung less than an hour after the news conference, reiterating that the decision was Yong’s own.
“We believe the nominee made the decision herself to minimize the burden on state affairs and people’s livelihoods,” Kang said.
Kang underlined that “Cheong Wa Dae will do its utmost in the vetting and selection process to ensure that personnel appointments meet public expectations.”
Her withdrawal follows intense scrutiny after she clarified her intent to retain her proportional-representation seat in the National Assembly if appointed minister, during a hastily called news conference on Thursday.
Yong also dismissed criticism over the operation of her Basic Income Party, particularly questions surrounding the role of her husband, Park Ki-hong, who was elected to the party’s supreme council and had been receiving a salary as a party official. Yong claimed that there were “no procedural or substantive flaws” in the arrangement.
The Democratic Party has grown increasingly critical of Yong since her news conference Thursday, when she expressed frustration that even some within the ruling party were being “swept up in speculation and malicious agitation” surrounding her nomination.
Senior spokesperson Rep. Park Sung-joon said Friday that the party was “taking a serious view of the matter from the public’s perspective.”
On Saturday, spokesperson Rep. Cho Gye-won said “some form of response is necessary,” citing “boiling public sentiment among younger people over the issue.”
The growing opposition within the ruling bloc to Yong’s appointment further weighed on Lee’s approval rating, which has been on a downward trajectory.
Lee’s job approval fell 2 percentage points from the previous week to 38 percent, the lowest level since he took office in June 2025, according to a Gallup Korea poll released Friday.
Among the 51 percent of respondents who disapproved of Lee’s performance, 24 percent cited real estate policies, followed by his personnel appointments at 16 percent and the economy and livelihoods at 10 percent.
The backlash was particularly pronounced over Yong. Sixty-one percent of respondents said she was unfit to serve as minister, more than four times the 13 percent who viewed her as fit for the post. Even among Democratic Party supporters, 51 percent considered her unfit, compared with 26 percent who said she was suitable for the job.
Notably, personnel appointments as a reason for disapproval surged from 1 percent two weeks ago to 9 percent last week and 16 percent in the latest
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