Rival political parties clashed at the start of a two-day parliamentary confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Kim Min-seok, who withheld information from the National Assembly screening panel on privacy grounds.

Opening the hearing on Tuesday, main opposition People Power Party(PPP) Rep. Lee Jong-bae, the chair of the special committee in charge of personnel hearings, expressed regret that Kim failed to submit 73-point-three percent of the requested documents.

PPP Rep. Bae June-young, the party’s senior member on the panel, said Kim withheld consent for the disclosure of his personal information and that of his family, suggesting the nominee would cooperate if he had nothing to hide.

The ruling Democratic Party said the main opposition was making excessive demands of Kim and insisting on files that have nothing to do with the vetting process, with Rep. Chai Hyun-il accusing the PPP of seeking to publicly humiliate the nominee.

Kim pointed out that past prime minister nominees under the conservative government also withheld consent to the disclosure of certain personal information during the document submission process, deeming it a violation of privacy, in line with related regulations.