National Assembly confirms Kim Boo-kyum as prime minister, opposition objects

The National Assembly also confirmed Lim Hye-sook as Minister of Science and ICT and Noh Hyeong-ouk as Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

ㅜational Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug opens a plenary session of the National Assembly to vote on a confirmation bill Thursday to nominate Kim Boo-kyum as prime minister. PPP lawmakers are seen protesting the bill. (Yonhap News)

South Korea’s National Assembly confirmed Kim Boo-kyum as prime minister on Thursday. The vote came 28 days after President Moon Jae-in nominated Kim on April 16.

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) had objected to Kim’s nomination, which it linked with ethical objections to other ministerial nominees – Lim Hye-sook for Minister of Science and ICT, Park Jun-young for Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, and Noh Hyeong-ouk for Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. PPP members attended the session but refused to vote on the confirmation bill.

The National Assembly passed Kim’s confirmation bill during a plenary session Thursday. Among the 176 lawmakers who took part in the vote, 168 voted in favor, five voted against, one abstained, and two cast null votes.

Throughout the session, PPP lawmakers protested the vote by attaching posters to their seats that said, “Ignoring the opposition party destroys cooperative governance.”

The ruling party’s decision to confirm Kim was aided by Park Jun-young’s decision to withdraw his candidacy for Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, following accusations about pottery smuggling.

“It’s undeniable that I haven’t maintained the moral probity that the public expects from nominees for public office. This is all my fault,” Park said in a statement earlier in the day in which he announced he was dropping out of consideration.

The Democratic Party concluded that Park’s withdrawal put them in a position to pass Kim’s confirmation bill. They asked the PPP to join them in passing the bill, but the PPP countered by demanding that Lim withdraw, too.

When the two parties’ last-minute negotiations broke down, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug said he would call a plenary session at 7pm and put the confirmation to a vote.

“The National Assembly speaker can no longer allow the premiership to remain empty since the prime minister is supposed to oversee the cabinet amid the ongoing pandemic and livelihood crisis. The speaker says it wouldn’t be right for the country not to have a prime minister when the president leaves the country next week for a summit with the US president,” said Han Min-soo, spokesperson for the National Assembly.

During a meeting of lawmakers before the plenary session, the Democratic Party stressed that the PPP had left it with no choice but to confirm the prime minister on its own.

“It’s the peak of hypocrisy for the People Power Party to refuse negotiations even after Park Jun-young withdrew his candidacy out of respect for public sentiment,” said Han Jun-ho, floor spokesperson for the Democratic Party.

The PPP urgently convened lawmakers at the same time to discuss what action to take.

Kim Gi-hyeon, floor leader and acting president of the PPP, had earlier asked Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Lee Chul-hee to arrange a meeting with President Moon.

“I’m prepared to visit [the Blue House] to communicate the will of the people as soon as I hear from them, even if that’s at midnight or 1 am,” Kim said.

The PPP decided to hold a meeting of lawmakers Friday in front of the Blue House as a sign of protest.

Following the National Assembly’s plenary session, the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee passed a report affirming Lim’s appointment as Minister of Science and ICT. Opposition lawmakers on the committee complained that the committee chair refused to listen to their points of order first.

Members of the Land, Infrastructure, and Transparent Committee listened to points of order from both sides for about an hour before adopting a bipartisan report describing Noh as unfit for office.

By Shim Wu-sam, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]