"You might as well be pro-North Korea" ... Lee Jun-seok and Han Dong-hoon lash out at Yong Hye-in nomination

[Financial News] Lee Jun-seok, former leader of the Reform Party, criticized the nomination of Yong Hye-in, floor leader of the Basic Income Party, as a candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, saying, "You might as well be pro-North Korea."
On the 30th, Lee made the remark on his Facebook page, saying, "We barely got rid of the radical feminists, so why stir that up again?"
He also shared a photo of a 2016 Justice Party bulletin board post, saying, "President Lee Jae-myung is swallowing poison, and the country will once again be caught up in the resulting pain."
According to JoongAng Ilbo, the post is believed to have been written in July 2016, when the Justice Party was hit by a mass exodus of members.
At the time, a voice actor who had worked on the online game Closers posted a photo of a T-shirt supporting the radical feminist community Megalia on social media. Game users protested, and the game company replaced that actor's voice with another actor's.
Amid the controversy, the Justice Party's culture and arts committee issued a statement criticizing the game company, saying, "Political views cannot be grounds for restricting an individual's professional activities." A critical post then appeared on the party's member bulletin board, asking whether the party was defending an hate community. Some members pushed back against the party's stance, leading to a mass departure. As the backlash grew, the party leadership formally withdrew the statement five days later.
Lee said he was stunned that, after 10 years, the president would still want to taste it again, and added, "You might as well be pro-North Korea."
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon also voiced criticism over the nomination of Yong.
On the same day, Han wrote on his Facebook page that the nominee was "the person who led the push for abolishing supplementary investigations, which opened the gates of hell for women and other socially vulnerable people who are relatively more exposed to crime, and who said she was 'deeply moved' by it." He added that she was also "the person who led the push to introduce a rape offense without consent, which would clearly shift the burden of proof onto everyone accused and create more wrongful cases."
He went on to say that she was "the person who led the effort to legally introduce a same-sex marriage system that the majority of the public does not agree with, and the person who became known to the public and young people as a symbol of unfairness after receiving VIP protocol treatment from lawmakers for a private family trip."
He added that the Minister of Gender Equality and Family should not be a spokesperson for any particular camp or ideology, but a minister for the entire public, embracing both men and women. He said that if Yong becomes Minister of Gender Equality and Family, a post meant to mediate conflict, it would only deepen confusion and division rather than fulfill that role.
Meanwhile, Yong said on her Facebook page that "gender equality for all is both a constitutional duty to protect the lives and dignity of the people and an important national task for overcoming the complex crises facing South Korea and opening a sustainable future." She added that, "As a working mother in her 30s and as a member of the opposition party sharing responsibility for state affairs, I feel a greater sense of duty and responsibility than ever before."
She continued, "I will devote myself fully to driving real change that all citizens can relate to and feel, and to creating a warmer and happier daily life." She also stressed, "I will approach the National Assembly confirmation hearing with sincerity and humility."
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter