South Korea’s National Assembly approved Kim Min-seok as the new prime minister on July 3. Opposition lawmakers from the People Power Party, who had called for the nomination to be withdrawn or for Kim to resign, boycotted the vote.
Only lawmakers from the pro-government bloc, including the ruling Democratic Party, Rebuilding Korea Party, and Progressive Party, participated. In a secret ballot, 173 out of 179 lawmakers present voted in favor, with three against and three invalid votes.
The confirmation came 29 days after President Lee Jae-myung nominated Kim on June 4. Kim will officially take office once the president signs the appointment.
In the same session, the National Assembly passed a bipartisan revision to the Commercial Act. Of the 272 lawmakers present, 220 voted in favor, 29 abstained, and 23 cast blank ballots.
The amendment includes provisions to strengthen corporate governance, such as requiring directors to fulfill fiduciary duties, introducing virtual shareholder meetings, limiting major shareholders’ voting rights to 3% in appointing or removing audit committee members, and reclassifying outside directors of listed companies as independent directors.
