Nat'l Assembly approves PM nominee Kim Min-seok

New Prime Minister Kim Min-seok shakes hands with ruling party lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

The National Assembly on Thursday endorsed President Lee Jae Myung's pick for prime minister, although all lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the vote over allegations surrounding his wealth and family.

The Assembly passed the confirmation motion for Kim Min-seok in a 173-3 vote with three invalid ballots during a plenary session. The approval came 29 days after Lee nominated Kim, a four-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), as prime minister.

Only lawmakers of the DPK, which currently holds a parliamentary majority, and other minor parties participated in the vote.

Speaking to reporters after his confirmation, Kim pledged to "uphold the will of the people" and stressed that "overcoming the economic crisis" caused by what he called the "forces of tyranny" will be his top priority.

The PPP has called Kim an unqualified nominee, taking issue with the source of his income amid large differences between his reported wealth and spending, as well as allegations surrounding his son's college admissions and his own studies at China's Tsinghua University.

The DPK earlier said it will push ahead with the confirmation unilaterally even if the PPP disagrees.

In Korea, the prime minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary approval.

At the session, the Assembly also passed a revision of the Commercial Act that would expand the fiduciary duty of corporate board members to all shareholders.

The rival parties had clashed over the rule that would limit the voting rights of the largest shareholder in a company to 3 percent when an auditor is being selected but agreed Wednesday to put the bill to a vote after making amendments to the rule.

Among the 272 lawmakers present, 220 approved of the revision. Twenty-nine disapproved while 23 abstained.

The Assembly had passed a similar bill in March but it was vetoed by former President Yoon Suk Yeol and ultimately scrapped.

A revision to the Martial Law Act, which bans the entry of the military and police into the National Assembly when martial law is declared, also passed Thursday's session.