Han Dong-hoon Releases More Text Messages Mentioning 'Democratic Party Oppas' Regarding Broker

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon today (Sept. 7) unveiled text messages in which Yang, a broker and key figure in the suspected clinical trial approval solicitation involving Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, and the pharmaceutical company's CEO mentioned other Democratic Party lawmakers.

Lawmaker Han posted on Facebook today, saying, "'Democratic Party Oppas' keep coming up. The Oppa poison lobbying gate was the 'Democratic Party Oppas Gate,'" while publishing the relevant text message contents.

According to the disclosed messages, pharmaceutical company CEO Kang sent a message to Yang first on October 8, 2021, saying, "The IND (Investigational New Drug) approval needs to come out before the 19th. Let's meet up when the lawmaker has a moment, even if it's not a meal."

In response, Yang replied, "Tomorrow, Representative Choi is coming to our office at 1 p.m. Right now, Seung-won oppa says it has to wait until the audit is over, but I'll press Representative Choi. Representative Song Young-gil is foxy so you have to give her money to make her move."

Representative Choi's name was not specified.

Then CEO Kang requested, "Then when you see Representative Choi, since we'll finish submitting all the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's supplementary request documents on Tuesday, please ask them to grant approval that week."

Yang mentioned, "I explained it to Seung-won oppa in the morning. I expected 1 billion won, but since it might not work out, I talked about numbers saying maybe around 800 million won would be invested, and the only person I told about numbers is Seung-won oppa. I checked two people and no one else talked about it except lawmaker Kim. However, it's not a commission or anything like that, they said they would invest."

Lawmaker Han pointed out, "Since the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung has decided to insist that the Oppa poison lobbying is a 'public interest' civil petition, I ask the public to look at the text messages and judge whether it is truly a 'public interest' civil petition or a 'fraud mobilizing Democratic Party Oppas,'" adding, "Aside from Seung-won oppa, more Democratic Party Oppas are coming out. There are also mentions of 'Representative Choi,' 'Lawmaker Kim,' and 'Representative Song Young-gil,' who criticized me, calling Yang's lobbying a 'good civil petition.'"

He further emphasized, "Conversations that appear to show 'Representative Choi' also involved in the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's approval are going back and forth. Broker Yang also reportedly told the nominee that if approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Yang would make a profit of 800 million to 1 billion won," adding, "Exposing facts to prevent such a person from becoming South Korea's Minister of Justice is the 'true public interest.'"

Lawmaker Han also requested that he be appointed as a member of the confirmation hearing panel for nominee Kim.

Meeting with reporters at the National Assembly today regarding nominee Kim's remarks telling him to "attend the hearing and clarify the facts," Han responded, "Since the party concerned wants it so much, I ask related figures including National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-shik to appoint me as a hearing panel member," adding, "However, it doesn't seem like the hearing will be held. If it is held, I will prevent the creation of the first Minister of Justice with a criminal record since the Provisional Government."

In response to the Democratic Party filing a complaint against him for allegedly illegally acquiring non-public investigative records, he replied, "A lawmaker is a position that must inform the public of tips from righteous people and public interest whistleblowers and protect them at the cost of one's life. I am not shaken by such tricks."

In addition, to the question asking if he had any idea about the background behind the decision to suspend indictment, he explained, "The Western District Prosecutors' Office processing plan that I disclosed states that Kim Seung-won is guilty and demands an 8-month prison sentence. Despite that, someone overturned it," adding, "In between, there was a process of martial law and impeachment, in other words, a process where the world changed to the Democratic Party. Looking at this point, you can guess the situation."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.