"'Capital Outflow' Was Broker Yang's Expression… I've Never Met Kim Seung-won"

[Anchor]

SBS has met with the CEO of Genencell, a new drug development company accused of delivering a request regarding the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won through a broker surnamed Yang. The CEO claimed that he has never even spoken to the nominee and that the remark about concerns over "capital outflow" was an expression used by broker Yang.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

SBS reporting teams met yesterday (the 8th) with Kang, the CEO of COVID-19 treatment developer Genencell.

Kang claimed that back in 2021, when he mentioned to an acquaintance named Yang that the approval of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for clinical trial plans was being delayed, Yang made such a suggestion.

[Kang / CEO of Genencell: "There is lawmaker Kim Seung-won, and I think I can at least mention something like that," he said. All we asked was to follow the regulations according to the schedule.]

Kang claimed that he reached out to Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won only once through Yang, and that he has never met him at all.

[Kang / CEO of Genencell: ((At the time) You've never met lawmaker Kim Seung-won?) I've never met him, and I've never spoken to him directly over the phone.]

He stated that the remark telling the then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety that "capital outflow is concerning" was an expression used by the messenger, broker Yang.

[Kang / CEO of Genencell: The expression 'capital outflow' was not used by me. Since Yang works in marketing, he happened to use and express such a splendid word as capital outflow.]

Kang also raised his voice, claiming that calling the new drug developed by himself and Genencell executives and employees a "poison" is a misunderstanding and an insult.

[Kang / CEO of Genencell: Why is it a poison? People in India already took it during clinical trials and saw results, and safety was proven through Phase 1 clinical trials in Korea. Why is it a poison? It is being severely misunderstood.]

Kang claimed that his attempt to donate political funds to nominee Kim was due to a request from Yang, not as a reward for any favors.

[Kang / CEO of Genencell: Since he had a relationship and was close with lawmaker Kim Seung-won, he said, 'I don't have money, so could you do it for me?' He sent an email saying, 'Please do it just this once for my sake,' and I said okay.]

Kang stated that he has not communicated with Yang since 2023, when prosecutors launched a full-scale investigation, and that he has not received any contact from nominee Kim's side recently.

(Video by: Lee Chan-su | Video Editing by: Jeon Min-gyu)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.