"Explanation of 'Chance Encounter' Is a Lie"... Was New Drug Approval Twice as Fast?

[Anchor]

Regarding a photograph showing Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won—who faces allegations of lobbying related to a new drug—with a broker surnamed Yang and others, nominee Kim explained that he ran into Yang "by chance." In response, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon dismissed this as a "shameless lie," countering that a call recording transcript between Yang and nominee Kim reveals a different context. Meanwhile, the People Power Party has raised suspicions that the clinical trial approval for the new drug in question was unusually fast.

Reporter Bae Junu has the details.

[Reporter]

This photograph was taken on February 9, 2022, featuring Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, a broker surnamed Yang, and a judge surnamed Jeong.

Nominee Kim's side explained that he "happened to run into" the two individuals on that day.

However, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon posted on social media, claiming it was a transcript of a phone call between nominee Kim and Yang that took place on the exact same day.

According to the claim, when Yang answered nominee Kim's call at the time, Yang asked, "I'll run over now, where are you?", to which nominee Kim replied, "Yeouido."

Lawmaker Han claimed the transcript shows Yang then said, "I'm in Hanam and will arrive in an hour. I'll head out, so give me the address," and nominee Kim replied, "Alright, I'll be here."

Lawmaker Han lashed out, calling the explanation that they ran into each other by chance a shameless lie.

In response, nominee Kim's side stated, "Relying on memory led to some shortcomings in our explanation," and changed their explanation to say they met "unexpectedly."

While nominee Kim's side had previously stated that he had never met or contacted Yang since 2022, an additional photo of them together with Yang at an event in 2023 was subsequently made public.

Regarding this, nominee Kim's side altered their explanation once again, stating, "He visited a local constituency event and happened to run into Yang."

Concerning suspicions that nominee Kim lobbied the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the swift approval of a COVID-19 new drug clinical trial plan, People Power Party lawmaker Han Ji-ah raised suspicions that the time taken to approve the new drug "Genencell" was 33 days, which is twice as fast as the average.

Refuting this, nominee Kim's side countered, "If you look only at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's review time excluding the period for companies to make revisions, Genencell took 11 days, which actually longer than the average under the same criteria."

(Video edited by: Lee Seung-hee, Design by: Kim Ye-ji, Kang Yoon-jung)

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