The National Assembly failed Friday to adopt a report on the results of its confirmation hearing for Prime Minister-nominee Lee Nak-yon amid a dispute over allegations against his family.

During the two-day hearing that ended Thursday, the former lawmaker and provincial governor was grilled over the suspicion that in 1989, his wife, then a high school teacher, used a false home address to get assigned to a better school in Seoul. He acknowledged it.

Earlier in the day, President Moon Jae-in's chief of staff Im Jong-seok apologized for the dispute and sought parties' cooperation for his appointment, but to no avail.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), People's Party and Bareun Party rejected the ruling Democratic Party's demand to adopt the hearing report, a crucial procedure before a parliamentary vote on the nominee.

They vented their frustration, saying the apology came from Moon's chief secretary, not from himself, and that the presidential office did not pledge to ensure that Moon's additional picks for top government posts will be free from such controversies.

Opposition parties have berated Moon for failing to deliver on his campaign pledge to exclude anyone involved in five kinds of irregularities -- tax evasion, military service evasion, real estate speculation, plagiarism and false residence registration -- from public office.

The major parties initially planned to set up a vote on Lee at the parliament's plenary session next Monday at the earliest. But it remains unclear whether the voting could proceed as planned.

Lee's appointment requires consent from a majority of the 299 lawmakers. The ruling party has 120 seats, while the LKP and its splinter Bareun Party control 107 seats and 20 seats, respectively. (Yonhap)