Kim Min-seok on Yong Hye-in’s resignation: “Public sentiment stands above the law... This does not help her either”

[Financial News] Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 14th of Yong Hye-in, a Basic Income Party lawmaker who voluntarily withdrew as a candidate for minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, “Isn’t public sentiment above the law?” He added, “I thought this would not help her either.”
Appearing that day on “Minty07,” a program on the Democratic Party of Korea’s YouTube channel “Minjoo TV,” Kim said, “It is not illegal to hold a proportional-representation seat while serving in another post, but by customary standards, common sense usually dictates giving up one of them.”
Kim explained, “Regardless of whether people asked, ‘Is this legal or not?’ there were opinions saying, ‘This doesn’t seem right.’ In any case, public opinion matters. Personnel decisions are not based solely on the law.”
The previous day, Kim Tae-seon, Kim’s chief of staff and a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, said on Facebook that Kim had urged Yong to resign voluntarily. At her resignation press conference, Yong also said she had been told by the Democratic Party of Korea to make a decision because public support for simultaneously holding a proportional-representation seat and a ministerial post was not broad.
Kim nevertheless said that the resignation was separate from his plans to strengthen cooperation with progressive parties. He said the Democratic Party of Korea had decided to discuss a merger or alliance with the Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP), while forming alliances with the Basic Income Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Progressive Party. “We had decided to keep the door wide open and hold talks on easing the number of seats required to form a negotiating group and on the electoral system,” he said. He added, “Although things have turned out this way, Yong also has a role to play, so we will be more proactive about alliances with progressive parties going forward.”
Kim also offered sharp criticism of Choo Mi-ae, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, over her criticism of President Lee Jae Myung regarding prosecution reform. Responding to Choo’s remark targeting Lee—“Why are you clinging to and fretting over these forces?”—Kim said, “People probably found it puzzling that this was a statement by a responsible Democratic Party of Korea politician and a provincial governor.”
Kim said, “We can conduct a blind test by removing my position entirely and also removing the speaker’s position entirely.” He added, “She probably needs to explain why she said this. In general, people likely would not have thought this was a remark by a senior Democratic Party of Korea figure.”

[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter