The nomination approval motion for Prime Minister candidate Kim Min-seok passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 3rd, led by the Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party did not attend the vote on the nominee. Kim is the first Prime Minister of Lee Jae-myung's government and will serve as the 49th Prime Minister.
On that day, the National Assembly passed the approval motion for the candidate with 173 votes in favor, 3 against, and 3 invalid out of 179 present members. This comes 30 days after President Lee Jae-myung nominated Kim.
The ruling and opposition parties negotiated for the adoption of the confirmation report for the candidate until the day before but could not narrow their differences. The confirmation hearing was held from the 24th to the 25th of last month, and the deadline for adopting the report was the 29th.
The People Power Party has claimed Kim is an unsuitable candidate due to allegations regarding his assets, degree, and favoritism in college admissions, urging him to resign and withdraw his nomination. On that day, the People Power Party did not attend the plenary session for processing the candidate's approval and staged a protest against the Democratic Party's unilateral handling.
Rep. Lee Jong-bae of the People Power Party, who served as the chairman of the special committee for the confirmation hearing, said, “The candidate had so many problems that he could not even escape a loose net and left many bad precedents,” and added, “President Lee Jae-myung talked about cooperation. Cooperation starts with listening to the voices of the opposition party.”
The Democratic Party has been requesting cooperation for the approval, stating that all allegations against the candidate were resolved through the previous confirmation hearing. However, since the Democratic Party holds a majority of seats (167), it has maintained a stance that it may proceed unilaterally without the agreement of the People Power Party if negotiations fail.
Kim Byung-ki, the acting party leader of the Democratic Party and floor leader, said, “If we delay approving the Prime Minister who will lead the cabinet, the public will not tolerate it,” and added, “The six months of administrative vacuum caused by the insurrection has left significant repercussions on our society as a whole.”
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik also emphasized the need for a swift appointment of the new government's Prime Minister and submitted the appointment approval motion to the plenary session. He explained that since the Acting Prime Minister system has been prolonged, prompt stabilization is necessary.
Prior to the vote on the appointment motion, Woo stated, “Since democratization, with only one exception, there has never been a case where the first Prime Minister of the new government couldn’t start a term one month after launch. Judging that we cannot delay any longer, I submitted the appointment approval motion to the plenary session.”