Yong Hye-in, the third-ever sitting lawmaker to give birth... No maternity leave this time either

Working from Home Before Childbirth
Maternity Leave Not Guaranteed by National Assembly Act
Bill Proposed by 20s Expired and Discarded

Yong Hye-in, Member of the Basic Income Party. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Jinyoung Jeon] Yong Hye-in, a member of the Basic Income Party, will be the third sitting lawmaker to give birth during her term. She is set to begin working from home starting next week, about a month before her due date. However, unlike regular workers, she is not entitled to 'maternity leave.' She alternates between working from home and attending the National Assembly, and whenever a plenary session or official event is held, she must submit a leave request form (absence notification) to the Speaker of the National Assembly each time.

In a phone interview on the 30th, Representative Yong said, "Facing a situation where it is impossible to balance work and childcare without family support, I will work on proposing bills for practical support that allows raising children as a social responsibility, not only within the National Assembly but also in society."

Efforts to legally guarantee maternity leave for members of the National Assembly were made during the time of Shin Bora, a former Liberty Korea Party lawmaker who gave birth while in office for the second time. Shin did not attend the Assembly for 45 days and submitted leave requests each time, eventually proposing an amendment to the National Assembly Act to guarantee the use of maternity leave. However, this bill was discarded due to the expiration of the 20th National Assembly's term. In April 2019, she also attempted to bring her six-month-old child into the plenary hall but was denied permission by the Speaker of the National Assembly. The first sitting lawmaker to give birth, Jang Hana of the former Democratic Party, was not able to use maternity leave at all.

Considering that the maternity leave period under the Labor Standards Act is within 90 days before and after childbirth, Representative Yong plans to alternate between attending the Assembly and working from home during this period. She held a private meeting with Speaker Park Byeong-seug on the 30th to discuss the need to improve the National Assembly Act regarding the combination of childbirth and childcare for lawmakers. She is also preparing to propose an amendment to the National Assembly Act that explicitly secures nursing spaces within the Assembly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.