▲ Professor Kang, the founder of the pharmaceutical company Genencell who was implicated in allegations of lobbying for COVID-19 clinical trial approval involving Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won, a former ministerial nominee, attends an appeal sentencing hearing for breach of trust charges at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on September 30.
Professor Kang, the founder of the pharmaceutical company Genencell who was implicated in allegations of lobbying for COVID-19 clinical trial approval involving Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won, has been sentenced to four years in prison in his appeal trial for breach of trust and other charges, and was taken into custody in the courtroom.
The court upheld the conviction on charges that Professor Kang paid 600 million won in return to a female broker who delivered his solicitation to Lawmaker Kim Seung-won, and disguised the payment as a normal investment.
On September 30, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court sentenced Professor Kang, who was indicted on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes, to four years in prison and a fine of 40 million won.
Professor Kang, who had been tried without detention after receiving a suspended prison sentence in the first trial, was taken into custody in court on this day due to concerns that he might flee.
Overturning the first trial's acquittal, the court found him guilty of violating the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Concealment of Proceeds from Crime in connection with Lawmaker Kim Seung-won.
The core of the charge is that Professor Kang asked Lawmaker Kim Seung-won for approval of the new drug clinical trials through a broker surnamed Yang, and gave 600 million won under the guise of an investment in Yang's company as a reward.
The first trial had acquitted him on the grounds that it could not be ruled out that the investment was made independently of the solicitation.
However, the appeal court judged, "It is clear that the defendant requested approval for the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's clinical trials through Kim Seung-won and paid 600 million won to Yang as a reward," adding, "In the process, they adopted the format of acquiring convertible bonds to disguise it as if Yang had acquired them legitimately."
Other charges were upheld as guilty, consistent with the first trial.
The appeal court maintained the first trial's guilty verdict on charges that Professor Kang submitted documents containing false information or omitting key details during the COVID-19 new drug development process between January and October 2021, thereby obtaining a patent from the Korean Intellectual Property Office and clinical trial approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The guilty ruling for trading stocks using undisclosed information related to Genencell was also maintained from the first trial.
Regarding a separate breach of trust charge amounting to about 1 billion won, the court found no error in the first trial's judgment that the evidence was unlawfully collected and thus the charge was not guilty.
Regarding the sentencing, the court pointed out, "This case involves obtaining patents and clinical trial approvals by intentionally omitting side effects or submitting false data while pursuing the development of a COVID-19 treatment." It added, "The defendant further paid 600 million won as a reward for arranging clinical trial approval through Kim Seung-won, disguised it as a normal transaction, caused damage to the company in the process, and transmitted undisclosed material information."
It further rebuked, "The motive for violating research ethics was to inflate Genencell's new drug development potential amid the national crisis of COVID-19 to drive up stock prices and reap massive profits," and noted, "Investors who bought the stocks suffered significant losses."
Professor Kang has been separately indicted and is standing trial at the Seoul Western District Court on charges including promising to offer bribes (such as agreeing to provide a 5 million won political donation) alongside Yang, after requesting Lawmaker Kim to secure prompt approval for clinical trial plans from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Lawmaker Kim was also investigated by prosecutors at the time on charges of receiving a request from broker Yang in October 2021 to ask the Minister of Food and Drug Safety for approval of Genencell's treatment clinical trials.
While acknowledging that Lawmaker Kim was charged with agreeing to receive a 5 million won political donation in return for his brokerage, prosecutors issued a suspension of indictment in December 2024, concluding that "it is difficult to conclude that the solicitation itself was illegal."
Subsequently, as Lawmaker Kim was nominated as the Minister of Justice and the case drew renewed attention, successive complaints calling for a reinvestigation led to the case currently being assigned to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station.
Nominated as a candidate on September 30 of last year, Lawmaker Kim voluntarily stepped down on September 19, 20 days later, amid mounting suspicions surrounding the solicitation for new drug clinical trial approval.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.