173 in Favor, 3 Against, 3 Invalid Votes
Kim Minseok: "Overcoming the Economic Crisis Is My Top Priority"
People Power Party Boycotts, Calling It a "Dictatorial Outrage"
The National Assembly held a plenary session on the 3rd and passed the appointment consent bill for Prime Minister nominee Minseok Kim. The People Power Party criticized the move as "an outrage that mocks democracy" and did not participate in the vote.
Prime Minister nominee Minseok Kim is being congratulated by fellow lawmakers after the appointment consent bill was passed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim
On this day, the appointment consent bill for nominee Kim was approved with 173 votes in favor, 3 against, and 3 invalid out of 179 lawmakers present, while People Power Party lawmakers abstained from voting.
Only lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea, the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, the Progressive Party, and other pro-government parties participated in the anonymous vote.
Kim will be inaugurated as the first Prime Minister of the Lee Jaemyung administration and the 49th Prime Minister of South Korea. This comes 29 days after President Lee Jaemyung nominated Kim, and 35 days after President Lee submitted the appointment consent bill to the National Assembly.
Immediately after the bill was passed, Kim told reporters, "I will not forget my gratitude to the people who supported me," and added, "I will uphold the will of the people as if it were the sky, and I will incorporate the wisdom of lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties into state affairs."
He continued, "Overcoming the economic crisis caused by the forces of tyranny is my top priority. As the President's chief aide, I will be a Prime Minister who thinks ahead and takes initiative early in the morning. I am grateful to usher in an era of a great people, a great government, and a great president."
People Power Party lawmakers are condemning the nomination approval bill for Prime Minister nominee Kim Minseok and others at the Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 3rd, while the plenary session is in progress. Photo by Yonhap News
While the vote on Kim's appointment was underway, the People Power Party held a protest rally in front of the main chamber of the National Assembly building.
Song Eonseok, interim leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized, "Forcing through the confirmation of nominee Kim is by no means the end," and added, "This is a clear declaration marking the beginning of catastrophe under the Lee Jaemyung administration."
Song further stated, "We have once again witnessed the dictatorial outrage of the Lee Jaemyung administration and the Democratic Party. Just a month ago, President Lee Jaemyung said he would restore communication and cooperation, but it was a blatant lie."
Lee Jongbae, a People Power Party lawmaker who chaired the special personnel hearing committee for nominee Kim, said, "Since this is the honeymoon period after the launch of the Lee Jaemyung administration and nominee Kim was the first Prime Minister to undergo a personnel hearing, we intended to adopt and pass the hearing report if possible. However, nominee Kim had so many issues that even a loose net could not let him slip through."
Kim Heejung, also a member of the special hearing committee, said, "How can someone who cannot even grasp the scale of the national budget claim to be Prime Minister?" and added, "From a continuous stream of lies every time he opens his mouth to a so-called 'don't ask' hearing with no official data and only verbal responses, he may overcome his personal crisis, but he is absolutely unqualified to be a Prime Minister who can lead South Korea through its crisis."
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