[Anchor]
Nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won received a suspension of indictment two years ago over allegations that he asked the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to help approve a COVID-19 new drug at the request of an acquaintance. The conservative opposition is questioning whether Kim sent a text message solicitation to the then-head of the ministry at the time, demanding his resignation and claiming he is unfit for the position.
Reporter Park Chan-beom has the details.
[Reporter]
This is a text message that Nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won sent yesterday, on the 1st, to Judiciary Committee Chairperson Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party at the National Assembly plenary chamber.
It contains explanations regarding the "Ministry of Food and Drug Safety solicitation suspicion case," stating that "even the court for the related case denied the quid pro quo nature of the mediation."
In December 2024, Nominee Kim, who was an opposition lawmaker at the time, received a suspension of indictment regarding allegations that he conveyed a solicitation related to the approval of clinical trials for a new drug to former Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Gang-lip.
Previously, in October 2021, a new drug development company was pushing for the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's approval of a COVID-19 treatment.
According to related rulings and other documents, a company official surnamed Kang asked a person surnamed Yang to help get the clinical trials approved. Yang then asked Nominee Kim, whom he was acquainted with, for help, leading to allegations that Nominee Kim asked then-Minister Kim Gang-lip to process the approval.
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon publicly questioned today whether Nominee Kim sent a text message solicitation to the former minister at the time, mentioning the company's name and stating, "Please ask the working-level officials in charge to process it a bit quickly."
The first-instance ruling for Kang, an official from the company, also states that Yang sent a text message to Nominee Kim asking him to "please ask the relevant division at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to process the work a bit quickly."
Yang and Nominee Kim were also captured in a photo together at an event in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in 2023.
The People Power Party demanded Nominee Kim's resignation.
[Park Chong-kwon / Chief Spokesperson for the People Power Party : It has now been revealed that he solicited in an unfair manner by abusing his position. He is a figure unfit for the role of Minister of Justice.]
When the news of his suspension of indictment became belatedly known in February of last year, Nominee Kim filed a constitutional complaint, stating, "It was the delivery of a civil petition, and there is no fact of receiving money or valuables."
[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice (February of last year) : I will fight to the end against shoddy legal skills and the political maneuvering of the prosecutors' office, which are untoward, to correct the falsehoods.]
When SBS asked about the suspicions, Nominee Kim's side responded, "Please ask starting tomorrow, when the personnel hearing preparation team begins operating." Judiciary Committee Chairperson Seo Young-kyo defended Nominee Kim, stating, "The prosecution should have washed their hands of it with a disposition of no charges, but instead they brazenly issued a suspension of indictment."
(Photo courtesy of Kookmin Ilbo) | Reported by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video by Oh Young-taek | Graphics by Kim Han-gil
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