A debate over whether a cabinet minister can simultaneously hold a parliamentary seat is widening across the political circle, with the nomination of Rep. Yong Hye-in as minister of gender equality and family emerging as a test case for the limits of parliamentary convention and the unresolved contradictions of Korea's satellite party system. Yong, a two-term lawmaker representing the progressive Basic Income Party, announced Monday she would retain her National Assembly seat despite her ministerial nomination — a break with parliamentary convention that has since drawn criticism from opposition parties, women's advocacy groups and a growing number of voices within the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) itself. Yong secured both her terms on proportional representation tickets formed by satellite coalitions led by the liberal DPK. She justified her decision by pointing to an institutional gap in coalition politics. "Due to an institutional void in coalition politics, the Basic Income Party is legally unable to succeed my proportional seat if I step down," she wrote on her social m