Yong Hye-in Faces Controversy Over 300 Million Won in Special Party Dues and Husband’s Salary; Reported for Alleged Violation of Political Funds Act

[Financial News] Yong Hye-in, a Basic Income Party lawmaker nominated as minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, has been reported to police on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Act.
Lee Jong-bae, a former Seoul city councilor, said on the 3rd that he had reported Yong Hye-in to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Act.
The complaint concerns allegations that, after Yong Hye-in paid a substantial portion of the political funds she used while serving as a lawmaker to her party as “special party dues,” the party paid a salary to her husband.
According to data submitted by the office of Cho Ji-yeon of the People Power Party after being obtained from the National Election Commission, Yong Hye-in used a total of 503,959,785 won in political funds from 2020 to 2024. Of that amount, 293.6 million won, or 58.3%, was found to have been transferred to the Basic Income Party in the form of “special party dues.”
There is nothing illegal in a lawmaker paying party dues to their political party with political funds. However, former councilor Lee Jong-bae argued that investigators should determine whether the political funds were indirectly transferred to Yong Hye-in’s husband, noting that a substantial amount was paid to the party as special party dues and that the party subsequently continued paying her husband a salary.
Particular controversy surrounds the party post held by Yong Hye-in’s husband, Park Ki-hong, and the process through which he received his salary. Yong Hye-in appointed Park as secretary-general at the first meeting of the Executive Committee, held on January 22, 2020, three days after the party was founded. It was the first meeting held after the party’s establishment. According to a notice of the meeting’s results posted at the time on the Basic Income Party’s website, Yong Hye-in was listed as an attendee and Park as an observer.
Accounting data from the Basic Income Party submitted by the office of Cho Ji-yeon after being obtained from the NEC also showed that Park had received an average monthly salary of around 3 million won from the Basic Income Party since 2020. The Political Funds Act stipulates that political funds may be spent only on expenses required for political activities and must not be used for private expenses or improper purposes. Anyone who violates this provision by spending political funds on purposes other than political activities may face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 4 million won.
In related rulings, the Supreme Court of Korea has interpreted “private expenses” to include support or subsidies for a household. It has also held that “improper purposes” include unjustified uses that violate social norms or the principle of good faith. The legality of the spending should be determined by comprehensively examining its purpose, recipient, amount, and the circumstances before and after the expenditure.
In his complaint, former councilor Lee Jong-bae argued, “If Yong Hye-in appointed her husband to a paid party post, paid a large amount of her political funds to the party as special party dues, and the party then paid her husband a salary, it could be viewed as having indirectly transferred political funds to her husband through the party.” He continued, “If the special party dues were used as a means of providing an economic benefit to her husband, the spending could potentially be deemed private expenses involving ‘support or subsidies for a household,’ as described in Supreme Court precedents, or spending for an improper purpose that violates social norms.”
He also criticized the arrangement, saying, “I have never seen a case in the history of political parties in which a wife pays a large amount of political funds as special party dues to a party where her husband holds a key position, and the husband then receives a salary from that money. It is an extremely bizarre trick and an illegality on the level of hiring corruption.” He added, “In substance, it is no different from hiring her husband as an aide and paying him a salary.” He urged authorities to act, saying, “Political funds have a strongly public character because they are raised through citizens’ donations and taxes, so their permitted uses must be strictly limited. Investigative authorities should conduct a thorough investigation to prevent political funds from being abused for private gain, uncover the substantive truth, and impose severe punishment on Yong Hye-in if the allegations are substantiated.”
[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter