Photo: Yong Hye-in with her son at the National Assembly. Credit: Office of Assembly Member Yong Hye-in.
The career of Yong Hye-in 용혜인 has been a breath of fresh air for anyone tired of old men in South Korean politics. The 36-year-old two-term Assembly Member for the Basic Income Party 기본소득당 has been a rising star in liberal politics, threading the needles of activism, policy wonkishness and old-school politicking when necessary. Her nomination as the new Minister of Gender Equality and Family 여성가족부, which would make her the youngest cabinet minister in South Korean history, looked like the next stage of her rise - but it may prove her greatest challenge yet.
Born in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do Province 경기도 부천 in 1990, Yong became an activist in 2014 in the wake of the Sewol Ferry Disaster 세월호 참사, which killed more than 300 high school students. After organizing a silent march to protest the Park Geun-hye 박근혜 administration’s inept rescue operation and the cover-up, Yong collected more than 6m signatures demanding a special bill authorizing an independent investigation of the disaster. Yong parlayed her elevated profile into a 2016 run for an Assembly seat with the Labor Party 노동당, but struggled to gain attention on the minor leftist party ticket.
So far, so typical for leftist activists in South Korean politics: it looked like Yong was another flash in the pan, set to follow her predecessors into obscurity until the next opportunity for publicity. But instead Yong’s next move was to found the Basic Income Party 기본소득당 in 2020, recruiting more than 20k due-paying members on the strength of a simple promise: a basic income of KRW 600k (USD 446) per month, to everyone.
In the 2020 General Election 총선거, the BIP allied with the Democratic Party 민주당 to put Yong in the National Assembly 국회. Yong quickly became a star legislator, with a sharp wit against conservative politicians that reliably went viral. She made news in 2021 as the first woman legislator to report to work with her infant son, and has repeatedly proposed the Domestic Partnership Act 생활동반자법, which would grant marriage-like privileges to same-sex and other unmarried couples.
Yong’s youth, eloquence, and feminism made her an instant target for the People Power Party 국민의힘, especially during the conservative opposition party’s own youth movement under the banner of Lee Jun-seok 이준석 and his pandering to young men’s toxic misogyny. But Yong has received even more hatred from her old friends in left-activist circles, who see her alliance with the mainstream liberal party as an unforgivable betrayal while other minor leftist parties like the Justice Party 정의당 and the Labor Party struggled.
Lee Jae-myung 이재명 may have thought nominating Yong as the new Gender Equality Minister could shore up the vote among young women, normally strong supporters of the Democratic Party. If so, it hasn’t worked: Lee’s popularity has continued the downward slide that began with the June 3 Local Elections 지방선거. (See Weekly Polls below.) Instead, Yong became a lightning rod for attacks over Lee’s cabinet reshuffle, which also included much more significant cabinet ministries like the Ministry of National Defense 국방부 and the Ministry of Justice 법무부.
It has not helped that Yong has bucked the tradition of resigning from the Assembly upon being nominated as a cabinet minister. Yong has argued, correctly, that the BIP would practically cease to exist if its sole elected representative resigned. But the argument makes her too easy a target for conservatives, who are practiced at painting activists as good-for-nothings who leech off government support - in this case, the subsidies given to political parties with an elected parliamentarian. Minor leftist parties, excelling as ever at mustering a circular firing squad, have been sniping that her achievements as an activist were overblown.
Relative to other nominees, the Democratic Party has been lukewarm about defending Yong, who after all belongs to a different party. Several Democratic legislators have publicly called for Yong to make a choice - either resign as a legislator, or withdraw from her nomination. Over the course of her young career, Yong Hye-in has distinguished herself with the ability to make the calculated decisions necessary to stay in politics. In the coming weeks, we will see if she can do it again.
