Prime Minister Approval and the 'Three Ministers' Spark Extreme Confrontation Between Ruling and Opposition Parties

Yun Hojung "Prime Minister Appointment Approval Must Be Processed Today"
Kim Gihyeon "Democratic Party Responsible for Public Opinion Deterioration and Political Deadlock"
Attention on Results of Ruling and Opposition Floor Leaders' Meeting on the Afternoon of the 13th

On the 13th, Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, visited the Speaker's office at the National Assembly and requested Speaker Park Byeong-seok to convene a plenary session for the approval of the confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The ruling and opposition parties are locked in an extreme confrontation over the fate of Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum and three ministerial nominees. The Democratic Party of Korea plans to hold a plenary session on the 13th to approve the appointment of Prime Minister Kim, even if it means processing the bill unilaterally after one ministerial nominee is rejected.

On the other hand, the People Power Party maintains that all three ministerial nominees are unqualified and opposes the confirmation of Prime Minister Kim as well. This comes a day before the Blue House’s deadline on the 14th to resubmit the personnel hearing reports for the ministerial nominees. The leadership of both parties is expected to engage in last-minute negotiations, but if unsuccessful, the National Assembly faces a crisis of paralysis.

Yoon Ho-jung, the Democratic Party floor leader, criticized at the policy coordination meeting that day, "The People Power Party is blocking the appointment of ministerial nominees while completely obstructing the processing of the Prime Minister’s appointment bill. Treating the appointment of the Prime Minister, who will oversee the executive branch during the COVID-19 crisis, as a bargaining chip is the height of irresponsibility by the opposition party." He added, "As the ruling party bearing infinite responsibility for the lives of the people, we will definitely process the Prime Minister’s appointment bill today." After the meeting, Yoon visited National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug to request the convening of a plenary session that afternoon. Although it was expected that the floor leaders of both parties would meet in the Speaker’s office that morning, the meeting did not materialize, and a meeting is expected around 1 p.m.

Right after meeting Speaker Park, Yoon told reporters, "Speaker Park clearly stated that because of the upcoming Korea-US summit next week, the President will be absent, and there must not be a gap in state affairs." He added, "The Prime Minister nomination hearing committee meeting scheduled for the morning will be postponed until the 1 p.m. negotiation." If no agreement is reached between the parties, the ruling party will proceed with confirming Prime Minister Kim unilaterally.

The issue of the three ministerial nominees (Im Hye-sook, Park Jun-young, and Noh Hyung-wook) is also intricately linked to the confirmation of Prime Minister Kim. Baek Hye-ryun, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, appeared on BBS Radio that day and said, "It is regrettable to link the two (Prime Minister nominee and ministerial nominees), and it feels as if the Democratic Party is being pushed to force the confirmation. There may be a time when a decision is necessary."

Within the Democratic Party, the argument that at least one ministerial nominee should be rejected is gaining traction, and it is reported that the Blue House is also inclined to accept this. However, the People Power Party insists that all three ministerial nominees must be dismissed. They criticize the Blue House and ruling party for ‘bargaining’ instead.

Kim Gi-hyeon, acting party leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the emergency committee meeting that day, "The withdrawal of the nomination of ministerial candidates who do not even meet the average morality of the people is the President’s obvious duty." He criticized, "Whether it is three or four, unqualified candidates must have their nominations withdrawn. The public should not be deceived by playing with numbers about whether one nominee falls or not."

He continued, "If the Blue House’s behavior of seemingly testing public opinion as if bargaining, or the ruling party’s habit of intimidating the opposition with the Prime Minister nominee’s confirmation bill continues, the responsibility for worsening public opinion and political deadlock lies entirely with the President and the Democratic Party, which acts as the Blue House’s rubber stamp."

The People Power Party announced the convening of an emergency party members’ meeting at 1:30 p.m. that day, warning lawmakers that "Today, the National Assembly Speaker and the Democratic Party may forcibly convene a plenary session to process the Prime Minister’s appointment bill unilaterally without consulting our party on the legislative schedule."

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