"Majored in Humanities, Didn't Know Drug's Efficacy" ... "Used for Private Lobbying"

[Anchor]

The confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won was held. When the People Power Party questioned him over allegations of improper solicitation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and whether animal testing data was fabricated, Kim responded that he "could not have known the treatment's efficacy" because he was a "humanities major." The Democratic Party focused on allegations that internal investigative documents from the prosecution had been leaked.

Kim Deok-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

The confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won took place yesterday (September 15) at the National Assembly.

People Power Party lawmakers pressed Kim on whether he made an "improper solicitation" to the then head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2021 regarding the approval of a clinical trial plan for Genencell, a developer of a COVID-19 treatment.

Kim explained that it was "delivering a public-interest grievance petition" out of concern over the "drain of national wealth," but when confronted with the point that a first-instance court ruling had already established Genencell's animal testing had been fabricated, he offered this response:

[Kim Min-jeon / People Power Party Lawmaker: Manipulated animal test results were submitted to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety—isn't this already stated in the court ruling?]

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: Lawmaker, I was a humanities major. The efficacy of that treatment or such matters (Can humanities majors not even read court rulings?) I had no way of knowing.]

Regarding this "humanities major remark," Kim's camp also issued a follow-up statement clarifying that "it meant he was unable to scrutinize the details more carefully due to a lack of expertise in that field," adding, "We sincerely apologize for causing misunderstandings due to an inadequate choice of words."

Lawmakers from the People Power Party also demanded that Kim take responsibility for participants in clinical trials who were administered Genencell's new drug and for victims of alleged stock price manipulation.

[Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party Lawmaker: I define this as having been used for private lobbying. With the pure intention of 'helping (a Mr. Yang) make hundreds of billions of won,' he was taken advantage of. It is truly inappropriate.]

Democratic Party lawmakers emphasized that the matter had already been resolved in December 2024 when prosecutors under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration decided to suspend Kim's indictment, arguing that the leak of internal prosecution investigative files represents a much more serious issue.

[Kim Dong-a / Democratic Party Lawmaker: These are records that even the parties involved cannot view at all, yet such details were leaked.]

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: I believe it must be uncovered how such confidential, internal prosecution materials flowed to former Minister Han Dong-hoon, and...]

Kim also remarked, "There are aspects I regret."

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: What is regrettable is that I think it would have been better if I had issued instructions through my aides. I do have some regrets now, wondering whether I trusted too much.]

Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.