Investigation into Yong Hye-in over Alleged Payment of Husband’s Salary with Party Dues Intensifies; First Complainant Questioned

[Financial News] Police have launched a full-scale investigation into allegations that ministerial nominee Yong Hye-in for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family allegedly routed political funds to her spouse in the form of salary, among other claims.
The Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station has been questioning Lee Jong-bae, a former Seoul Metropolitan Council member from the People Power Party, since around 2 p.m. on the 10th. Lee filed a complaint against Yong over alleged violations of the Political Funds Act, occupational embezzlement and breach of trust, among other charges. This is the first questioning of a complainant in connection with the allegations against Yong.
Before the questioning, Lee said, "The only thing Yong can do to receive applause from the public is resign from both the ministerial nominee position and her seat in the National Assembly." He added, "These are serious complaints involving the taxpayers’ hard-earned money. The truth must be uncovered through an investigation, and those responsible must be punished severely."
According to the complaint, Yong paid 293.6 million won, or 58.3%, of the 503,959,785 won in political funds she spent from 2020 to 2024 to the Basic Income Party as special party dues. Park Ki-hong, Yong’s spouse, whom she directly appointed to a paid party position such as secretary-general, received a salary from the party.
Lee criticized the arrangement, saying, "If a lawmaker wife pays a large amount of special party dues to the party and her husband receives a salary from it, that is not only a violation of the Political Funds Act but also an absurd way to boost household income by routing political funds whose use is strictly restricted."
Lee also raised questions about the use of subsidies by the Basic Income Policy Research Institute, the Basic Income Party’s think tank. He alleged that the institute, which Yong headed as chair, used subsidies received from the party’s central office from August 2022 to July 2023 to pay 350,000 won per month in rent and maintenance fees for the office of Alba Yeondae, a civic group.
He also asked police to investigate whether research service fees ranging from 4.5 million won to more than 14 million won per contract, which the party paid separately to institute personnel and others, were compensation for actual research.
The complaint also covers the circumstances under which the party decided to repay, with state subsidies, the 30 million won it had borrowed from Yong to relocate its central office. The complaint argues that investigators should verify how the borrowed money was actually used and what funds were used for repayment to determine whether the subsidies were spent for permitted purposes.
Lee also filed a complaint against Yong on suspicion of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights over allegations that she instructed her aides to care for her children.

Meanwhile, Yong held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly Communication Center in Yeouido, Seoul, at around 1:40 p.m. that day and presented her rebuttal to the allegations surrounding her.
Yong said, "My spouse’s salary was compensation for actual work." She added, "The salary my spouse received for working at the party for six years and two months, from June 2020 to August 2026, totaled approximately 160 million won. Excluding about 12 months of parental leave, that comes to an average of around 2.5 million won per month. What is wrong with a 40-year-old worker receiving a salary of about 2.5 million won a month?"
She emphasized that she could support her family on her own income, saying, "There was no reason to pay this much in party dues just to provide my spouse with a salary of around 2.5 million won." She also argued that there were no procedural problems, saying she had sufficiently consulted party officials during the appointment process for secretary-general and that a separate ratification procedure was required after the appointment.
Regarding the allegation that the research institute supported a civic group’s rent, Yong countered that the group and the institute actually shared the office. She said the institute paid 350,000 won per month, approximately 30% of the total rental cost including maintenance fees, under a sublease agreement, adding, "We paid fair compensation for the workspace we actually used." She also said documentation related to the contract and expenditures existed and that the sublease agreement had been posted on the institute’s website after reports about the allegations.
Meanwhile, police plan to question representatives of the conservative civic group Committee for the Protection of Ordinary People’s Livelihood on the 11th as complainants. The group filed a complaint against Yong for alleged abuse of authority and violation of the Public Official Election Act. It alleged that Yong violated Korea Airports Corporation’s operating rules, which limit use of the VIP lounge to official duties, by using the VIP lounge at Gimpo International Airport before traveling to Jeju Island with her family in March 2023.
The group also filed a complaint alleging that Yong violated the Public Official Election Act by filming a video in mid-May, ahead of the June 3 local elections, while wearing clothing bearing the party name in front of the campaign office of Park Eun-young, a Basic Income Party candidate in Gwangsan District of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, and uploading it to social media.
[email protected] Park Seong-hyeon Reporter