"To Prevent Obstruction and Delays"... Nominee Explains, But Company Faked Experiments

[Anchor]

Kim Seung-won, nominee for Minister of Justice, claimed that sending a text message to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety was due to information that foreign pharmaceutical companies were obstructing domestic companies from developing new COVID-19 treatments. However, a first-instance ruling confirmed that the company that requested this favor lied about conducting experiments it never performed and fabricated critical data regarding the drug's efficacy.

Reporter Kim Deok-hyeon explains.

[Reporter]

Nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won held an in-person Q&A with reporters on his way to work after four days.

Regarding suspicions that he lobbied for the approval of clinical trial plans for Genencell, a COVID-19 treatment developer, he stated, "I should have been more cautious in delivering civil complaints," while adding the explanation, "Through various channels, I obtained answers that it could help in treating COVID-19."

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: There was also information that multinational companies were obstructing domestic pharmaceutical companies from developing COVID-19 treatments, so the intent was to have it processed promptly.]

According to the prosecution's indictment and ruling, Nominee Kim was contacted by Yang, who asked for help in speeding up the approval process from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and also received materials related to Genencell's clinical trials.

Later, Nominee Kim sent a text message to then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Gang-lip asking for prompt processing, stating, "I am worried about the leakage of national wealth."

What was the actual reality of Genencell?

According to the first-instance ruling against Genencell founder Kang, founder Kang obtained a patent for a COVID-19 treatment ingredient in January 2021 by fabricating data as if hamster experiments, which were never conducted, had been performed.

Later, during the clinical trial plan approval process, when the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation requested supplementary data in June 2021, stating that "data on the mechanism of action related to COVID-19 is insufficient," Genencell submitted fabricated data to gain approval.

While Nominee Kim maintains his stance that he forwarded the complaint for COVID-19 treatment, the fact that there were problems with Genencell's patent acquisition and clinical approval was revealed through a court ruling in 2024.

Suspicions have also been raised that Nominee Kim's contact may have become one of the reasons why the authorities' verification, which should have caught the fabricated data at the time, failed to function properly.

This is because additional suspicions were raised that following Nominee Kim's contact with the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, the minister's secretary sent a "pressure-inducing text message" to the frontline division head who held final authority over clinical trials within the ministry.

(Video Editing: Nam Il, Design: Yang Gi-tae, Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.