Han Dong-hoon Releases More Broker Texts Mentioning 'Democratic Party Oppas' in Continuing Exposé

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon revealed text message conversations today (the 7th) involving broker Yang, a key figure in the allegations surrounding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won's request to expedite clinical trial approvals for a new drug, and the pharmaceutical company's CEO, which mention other Democratic Party lawmakers.

Lawmaker Han posted on Facebook today, stating, "'Democratic Party Oppas' keep coming up. The 'oppa' poisoned-drug lobbying gate was the 'Democratic Party Oppas Gate,'" along with screenshots of the relevant text messages.

According to the released messages, pharmaceutical company CEO Kang sent a message to broker Yang on October 8, 2021, saying, "The IND (Investigational New Drug) application must be approved before the 19th. Let's meet up when the lawmaker has a moment, even if it's not a meal."

In response, broker Yang replied, "Lawmaker Choi is coming to our office tomorrow at 1 p.m. Seung-won oppa says it needs to be wrapped up because of the parliamentary audit, but I'll press Lawmaker Choi. Lawmaker Song Young-gil is foxy, so you have to give him money to get him to move."

Lawmaker Choi's name was not explicitly mentioned by full name.

Kang then requested, "Then when you see Lawmaker Choi, since we'll submit all the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's supplementation request documents by Tuesday, please ask them to grant approval that week."

Broker Yang mentioned, "I explained it to Seung-won oppa in the morning. I'm expecting around 1 billion won, but it might not work out, so about 800 million won might be invested. The only person I talked to about numbers and gave a chance to was Seung-won oppa. I checked with 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 led by Lee Jae-myung has decided to spin the 'oppa' poisoned-drug lobbying into a 'public interest' petition, I ask the public to look at the text messages and judge whether it is truly a 'public interest' petition or a 'fraud mobilizing Democratic Party oppas.'" He added, "Aside from Seung-won oppa, more Democratic Party oppas are appearing, including 'Lawmaker Choi' and 'Lawmaker Kim,' as well as talk about 'Lawmaker Song Young-gil,' who criticized me by calling Yang's lobbying a 'good petition.'"

He continued, "Conversations that look as though 'Lawmaker Choi' was also involved in the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approval are going back and forth. Broker Yang reportedly even told nominee Kim that if the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approves it, Yang would make a profit of 800 million to 1 billion won," emphasizing that "revealing the facts to prevent such a person from becoming South Korea's Minister of Justice is the true 'public interest.'"

Lawmaker Han also requested to be appointed as a member of the confirmation hearing committee for nominee Kim.

Meeting with reporters at the National Assembly today, regarding nominee Kim's remark telling him to "attend the hearing and clarify the facts," Han responded, "Since the person involved wants it so much, I ask relational figures such as National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik and others to appoint me as a hearing committee member." He added, "However, it doesn't seem like a hearing will actually be held. If it is held, I will prevent the birth of a Minister of Justice with a criminal record for the first time since the provisional government."

Regarding the Democratic Party's filing of criminal complaints against him for allegedly receiving non-public investigative records illegally, he replied, "A lawmaker is someone who must inform the public of tips from righteous figures and public interest whistleblowers and protect them with their lives. I am not shaken by such petty tricks."

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