President Lee Jae Myung approved the appointment of Prime Minister Kim Min Seok at approximately 5:36 p.m. on July 3.
This approval came 29 days after President Lee Jae Myung nominated Kim as the candidate on June 4, and 35 days after President Lee submitted the request for parliamentary consent. With the president's approval, Kim Min Seok officially took office as the first prime minister of the Lee Jae Myung administration and the 49th prime minister of South Korea.
Earlier, the National Assembly passed the motion to confirm Kim's appointment, with 173 votes in favor, 3 against, and 3 invalid out of 179 members present.
Immediately after the motion was passed, Kim Min Seok told reporters, "I will never 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, "The top priority is to overcome the economic crisis caused by the forces of tyranny," and said, "As the president's chief aide, I will be a prime minister who thinks ahead and takes initiative from early in the morning. I am grateful to usher in an era of a great people, a great government, and a great president."
During the vote on Kim's confirmation, the People Power Party held a protest rally in front of the main chamber of the National Assembly building.
Song Eon Seok, interim leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized, "The forced confirmation of Kim is by no means the end," and added, "It is a clear declaration marking the beginning of the downfall of the Lee Jae Myung administration."
Song continued, "We have once again witnessed the dictatorial tyranny of the Lee Jae Myung administration and the Democratic Party," and said, "Just a month ago, President Lee Jae Myung said he would restore communication and cooperation, but it was a blatant lie."
Lee Jong Bae, a People Power Party lawmaker who chaired the special personnel hearing committee for Kim, said, "This is the honeymoon period after the launch of the Lee Jae Myung administration, and since Kim was the first prime minister to undergo a hearing, we tried to adopt and pass the hearing report if possible." He added, "However, Kim Min Seok had so many issues that not even the loosest net could let him slip through."
Kim Hee Jung, another committee member from the People Power Party, also said, "How can someone who cannot even grasp the scale of the national budget claim to be prime minister?" She continued, "From a hearing full of lies without a single official document, to answering only with words, it may help him overcome his personal crisis, but he absolutely lacks the qualifications to be a prime minister who can help South Korea overcome its crisis."
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