On the morning of the 7th, Minister nominee for gender equality and family Yong Hye-in said only, "I will explain at the confirmation hearing," when asked about various allegations as she arrived for work at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up at the Korea Youth Work Agency (KYWA) in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.
Reporters then asked, "Will you see it through to the end?" but Yong gave no further answer. When asked whether her reluctance to actively address the allegations was "no different from the candidates for confirmation hearings she criticized in the past," Yong remained silent and got into the elevator.
After Yong said she would continue to hold her proportional representative seat even after being appointed Minister, controversy mounted, followed by allegations about hiring her spouse as a party official and an "under-organization" scandal.
The so-called under-organization allegations claim that behind the Basic Income Party, to which Yong belongs, as well as past groups such as the Socialist Party, the Labor Party, Alba Solidarity, and Youth Left, there was a behind-the-scenes organization in which a small group made decisions, and that Yong was also part of that organization. An activist from the under organization came forward with the allegations.
Jeong Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, said on social media the previous day, "That secret organization was close to a closed, cult-like religious group under the absolute influence of a leader surnamed Kim, with doctrines such as premarital chastity and a ban on dating, and repeatedly committed internal sexual violence, and the allegation is that Representative Yong stayed silent and enabled it."
He added, "There is growing suspicion that Representative Yong is merely a plausible political product put forward publicly by the under organization, while behind the scenes there is an under organization centered on leader Kim."