From Entertainment Bar to Businessman: Who Is Kim Seung-won's "Junior" Yang?

[Anchor]

An individual surnamed Yang has also emerged at the center of the alleged Food and Drug Safety Ministry lobbying suspicions. Described by nominee Kim as a "close junior" and a "successful businessman," Yang previously ran an entertainment bar before transforming into a businessman. However, Genencel CEO Kang described Yang as a friend who "liked to flaunt his connections."

Reporter Kim Jin-u has the story.

[Reporter]

A building in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

The individual surnamed Yang, a key figure in the alleged new drug lobbying suspicions whom Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won described as a "close junior and successful businessman," used to run an entertainment bar at this location.

[Valet Parking Employee: I know it had an old name like 'OO Bar.' The parking tickets, etc.]

Yang received a finalized sentence with suspended judgment in 2013 for failing to pay severance wages to entertainment hosts and hostesses.

The following year, Yang transformed into the CEO of K Company, a cosmetics and pharmaceutical firm, and even launched women's health products.

The office of K Company visited by reporters is tightly locked.

A delivery package addressed to Yang that arrived in August of last year is left abandoned.

[Building Manager: I understand they haven't shown up for quite a while now. Seems like quite a while.]

People working at neighboring businesses remember K Company as having "around 10 employees," and it was confirmed that K Company went bankrupt in 2023.

Previously, in 2021, Yang repeatedly relayed requests from Genencel CEO Kang to nominee Kim Seung-won to expedite the approval process for a new drug clinical trial plan.

However, CEO Kang stated today (the 8th) regarding Yang, "He used to flaunt his close ties."

[CEO Kang / Genencel: He's just that kind of friend who flaunts connections without much thought. When doing sales and marketing, he would say things like, 'Oh, I'm close with this kind of person.']

This means he "bragged about his personal network."

[CEO Kang / Genencel: During a conversation with a third party, it seems everything was automatically recorded. He might have bragged about his connections, but once he starts going on and on, you can't just hang up on him.]

Meanwhile, nominee Kim's side released a transcript today of a phone conversation between Yang and CEO Kang that took place on October 12, 2021.

It contains statements where Yang says, "I just spoke with lawmaker Kim Seung-won," mentioning that instructions were given through the BH, meaning the Blue House, to submit a report to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Nominee Kim's side also released a transcript from four minutes prior to that call, with the intention of showing that when Yang spoke with nominee Kim four minutes earlier, there was actually no mention of the BH, arguing that Yang exaggerates things that did not happen.

(Camera Reporter: Lee Byeong-ju, Lee Chan-su, Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing: Yoon Tae-ho | Design: Jang Seong-beom)

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※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.