The past wrongdoing had to do with Lee's wife, a former public school teacher, registering her residence at a false address, a move aimed at being assigned to a school of her choice.

To many, including those who live here, the decades-old misdeed may not seem to be a serious enough crime to keep Lee from his appointment, but the problem is that the issue is one of the five misdeeds President Moon Jae-in has named as key corruptive activities. The president has also said he would not even consider nominating a person accused of such activities to a government post.

The president and his office Cheong Wa Dae have offered an apology, acknowledging difficulties in finding a perfect nominee.

Lee's appointment itself is, of course, important, in that it will mark the start of President Moon Jae-in forming his new and first Cabinet.

However, a possible delay or failure in appointing Lee as the new prime minister carries a far greater significance to the president as it could mean a monthslong delay in the actual launch of his new administration.

The new president was inaugurated May 10, only one day after the country held a rare presidential by-election caused by the ouster of its former leader Park Geun-hye over corruption allegations.

With no time to prepare for the power transition, Moon was forced to set sail despite each  and every top government post in his administration filled by those close to and appointed by the former conservative president.

Indeed, he was forced to sleep with the enemy, and surprisingly, he still is doing so to date, 18 days after his inauguration.

One of the reasons is it takes time to appoint any new Cabinet member.

Nominees for new government ministers must undergo confirmation hearings by a parliamentary committee, though their appointment does not require approval or even endorsement of the parliament.

Another problem is that nominees for new government ministers must first be recommended by the prime minister before the president can nominate them, a real problem right now when the prime minister's seat is currently vacant.

The president has named only two nominees for new Cabinet members -- the finance minister and the foreign minister -- apparently because his nominations require prior recommendations from Acting Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, who, along with 15 other incumbent ministers, was appointed by the ousted former president.

While treating all 16 incumbent ministers to lunch at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, President Moon said that they "of course make the first Cabinet of the Moon Jae-in administration" in an apparent attempt to win their support and cooperation, at least for the time being.

The president still noted the incumbent ministers will have to go eventually.

"A Cabinet shake-up is unavoidable, but I ask you to think of yourselves as the first Cabinet of the Moon Jae-in administration and work with us," he was quoted as saying.

Should Lee fail to win the parliament's approval for his appointment as new prime minister, the president could be forced to find a new pick, meaning a continued vacancy in the post required to make nominations for new ministers and thus a further delay in forming the true first Cabinet of the new administration filled by those picked and appointed by Moon himself. (Yonhap)