The floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party on Sunday asked opposition parties to accept the presidential office's recent apology and give their blessings to the new prime minister nominee facing criticism over his family's past wrongdoing.
"I believe people are also deeply concerned in that the new government is facing difficulties in its first nomination of a new government official," Rep. Woo Won-shik told reporters.
"I courteously ask the opposition parties to understand the president's position for the benefit of the whole and please cooperate with issuing a report on the outcome of Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon's confirmation hearing and a vote on his appointment," he added.
Woo's request came two days after the ruling and opposition parties failed to publish their joint report on the outcome of Lee's confirmation hearing held last week.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) cited Lee's wife falsely registering her residence while working as a school teacher, a move apparently aimed at being assigned to a school of her choice.
False registration of residence, though often committed by many for various reasons, is a crime under the local law and one of the five misdeeds President Moon Jae-in has personally denounced as major corruptive activities that he said would keep any person from being nominated to a government office.
The opposition parties demanded the president's apology for his nomination of Lee.
On Friday, Moon's chief of staff Im Jong-seok sought to offer exactly that, saying: "We offer our apology to the people in that our nominees fell short of their expectations. We also offer our apology to the members of the parliamentary confirmation committee and ask for their understanding."
The LKP and other opposition parties refused to accept the apology, saying for it to be real and sincere, it must come from the president himself.
"The announcement made by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae two days ago reflects the president's sincere apology and anguish. Through his chief of staff, the president honestly admitted to difficulties in the reality of the situation, and asked for the people's and the parliament's understanding while courteously apologizing," Woo insisted.
The ruling party whip also offered to have the opposition's voice better reflected in finding or appointing new ministers, proposing to launch three-way discussions with the presidential office to set up new standards for new ranking government officials.
Whether such a proposal has been discussed and accepted by the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae could not be verified immediately.
The ruling and opposition parties earlier agreed to try and hold a vote on the appointment of Lee as the new prime minister Monday.
Lee requires parliamentary approval for his appointment. (Yonhap)