South Korea's parliamentary speaker evoked his authority Friday to put a motion calling for the dismissal of the prime minister to a floor vote, local media reported.

Parliamentary speaker Kang Chang-hee made the decision as the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party wrangled over the controversial dismissal motion.

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik has come under mounting criticism for the secretive Cabinet endorsement of what would have been the first military pact with Japan since the end of the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula.

In a country where the anti-Japan sentiment still runs deep, sharing military intelligence with the former colonizer remains somewhat of a taboo.

Seoul and Tokyo still remain at odds over various historical issues, including the persistent territorial disputes over a set of islets and Korean women who were forced into sex slavery during the WWII.

The Cabinet approval triggered a public backlash here, prompting the Seoul foreign ministry to delay the signing of the accord known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

Critics say the deal, which allows the two sides to exchange military intelligence on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and its nuclear and missile programs, would be a boon for Japanese right-wing extremists and generate military tension in the region.

The prime minister, who apologized for failing to inform the public, still said the military pact is in South Korea's national interest and should not be repealed.