Prime Minister Kim Min-seok Steps Down, Urges Focus on Vulnerable

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Min-seok left office Wednesday, asking civil servants to put the people's lives and the socially vulnerable ahead of anything else.

"I think politics is to see the future through the eyes of the weak," Kim said during his departure ceremony, pointing to his official prime ministerial tie that features a pattern of sheep with an empty space in the center.

"This is an expression of our pledge to look after and take care of all, with no one left behind, in the course of (the economic) recovery, growth and a leap forward," he said. "I hope you will maintain the attitude of civil servants in the Lee Jae Myung administration to put the top priority on people's lives and the weak."

Kim is widely expected to run for leader of the ruling Democratic Party.

"I will work with a greater sense of responsibility in the new arena to back the success of the Lee Jae Myung government and open up a new era," he said.

The National Assembly held a two-day confirmation hearing on Kim's successor Han Seong-sook last week and approved her nomination Tuesday night.

Han, a former CEO of online portal giant Naver who joined the government as minister for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups last year, was scheduled to be sworn in as prime minister later Wednesday.