Judge's Son in "Three-Way Selfie" Worked in Rep. Kim Seung-won's Office

[Anchor]

Following the dismissal of the arrest warrant for Genencel founder Kang Se-chan in late 2023, it has been confirmed through our reporting that the son of the judge in charge of the warrant was hired at the office of then-Lawmaker Kim Seung-won. This is the very same judge who appears in a photo taken with candidate Kim and a figure named Yang, who has been pointed out as a broker. This directly contradicts Kim's previous explanation that he has not been in contact with them since February 2022, when the photo was taken.

This is an exclusive report by reporter Shin Yong-il.

[Reporter]

In December 2023, the arrest warrant requested for Genencel founder Kang Se-chan on charges including attempted fraud was dismissed.

The warrant-dedicated judge in charge of the review at the time was Senior Judge Jung from the Seoul Western District Court, and a photo of him taken alongside candidate Kim and businessman Yang on the 3rd was recently made public.

In response, candidate Kim stated that he accidentally ran into Senior Judge Jung and Yang at a private gathering in February 2022, and had neither met nor contacted them since.

However, SBS reporting confirmed that Senior Judge Jung's college-aged son worked as a legislative assistant in the office of candidate Kim, who was a lawmaker at the time, in the first half of 2024.

The judge's son was hired at candidate Kim's office a few months after Senior Judge Jung dismissed the warrant, which directly contradicts the explanation candidate Kim provided immediately after the photo was made public.

In response to SBS inquiries asking about any connection between the dismissal of Genencel's Kang's warrant and the employment of Senior Judge Jung's son, candidate Kim's side stated, "Senior Judge Jung's son experienced working in the lawmaker's office as a legislative assistant following the general procedures of a lawmaker's activities, and it was not even an official position." They added, "It is clear that no causal relationship is recognized between the warrant dismissal and the legislative assistant work, and claims suggesting it was a reward are unjustified."

Regarding criticisms that this conflicts with the explanation given after the photo was released, they explained, "It was a misunderstanding caused by insufficient communication due to the candidate's personal circumstances, and there is no truth to having contacted or discussed specific cases with Senior Judge Jung."

(Camera reporting: Yang Hyun-chul | Video editing: Kim Jun-hee | Design: Jeon Yu-geun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.