The National Assembly has approved the appointment of Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, in a vote held during a plenary session called on Thursday evening by Speaker Park Byeong-seug, even as opposition party lawmakers stormed out in protest.

The speaker exercised his right to call a plenary session after the rival parties failed to reach a compromise earlier in the day on holding a plenary session to vote on the matter.

A total of 176 lawmakers cast their ballots, with 168 voting for the motion, while five voted against Kim's appointment. One abstained while and two other votes were deemed invalid. The ruling Democratic Party holds 174 out of 300 seats at the National Assembly, with Justice Party, another liberal faction, holds an additional six seats. The main opposition People Power Party, with 101 seats, refused to take part in the vote.  

Kim, a former interior minister who served four terms as a lawmaker with the ruling party, was nominated as the successor to former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who stepped down last month to run for next year’s presidential election.  

President Moon Jae-in named Kim and five ministerial nominees last month following the ruling party’s crushing defeat to the PPP in the by-elections, which cost them the mayoral seats in Seoul and Busan earlier in April.  

The PPP had lumped the confirmation for the prime minister nominee together with that of three of the five ministerial nominees, whom they criticized for alleged ethical lapses, and demanded concessions from the DP in ministerial nominations. The DP, however, has argued they are two separate issues. 

One of the three ministerial candidates, Fisheries Minister nominee Park Jun-young, handed in his resignation early on Thursday.