Hearing Held Today Without Witnesses… "New Drug Administered to 93 People"

[Anchor]

The confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, who is engulfed in allegations of lobbying the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and providing a reward-based job, will be held today (the 15th). There are many suspicions that need to be directly asked of the figures involved, but due to the opposition of the Democratic Party, not a single witness will attend.

Today's first news, reporter Ha Jeongyeon.

[Reporter]

Yesterday, a day ahead of the parliamentary confirmation hearing, Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won repeatedly gave this response to reporters' questions on his way to work.

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee (Yesterday): (How will you explain the lobbying allegations and other issues at the hearing?) I will explain everything tomorrow. If I say various things right now...]

As Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hyein stepped down voluntarily the day before yesterday, the People Power Party pressured that the nomination of nominee Kim be withdrawn even now.

[Jang Dong-hyeok / People Power Party Leader: Are you trying to present a 'complete set of crimes' as a gift to the public ahead of Chuseok? The nomination of Kim Seung-won must be withdrawn immediately, even now.]

The Democratic Party pledged to "defend nominee Kim," calling it groundless and false agitation.

[Han Byeong-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: No matter how many times you repeat 'mud-slinging' style suspicions a hundred times, false agitation cannot become verification.]

The core issue in verifying nominee Kim is the "allegation of lobbying the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

The controversy centers on whether nominee Kim's request for "fast-track processing" regarding the approval of a clinical trial plan for a new drug by Cenexell to then-Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Gang-lip back in 2021 was appropriate.

Suspicions of "illegal lobbying" and counterarguments that it was "delivering a public interest petition" are clashing.

It was additionally revealed that after Cenexell's new drug received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the new drug or a placebo was administered to 93 COVID-19 patients during the clinical trial process in 2022.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated that no serious adverse drug reaction cases have been reported to date, but as Cenexell is suspected of omitting or fabricating data during the approval process, controversies surrounding the safety of clinical trials on humans are expected to grow.

The fact that nominee Kim employed the son of Judge Jeong, who dismissed the arrest warrant for the founder of Cenexell, as a legislative assistant is also a key issue.

Due to the Democratic Party's refusal to adopt witnesses, today's hearing will proceed without witnesses, and attention is focused on how much the suspicions raised against nominee Kim will be clarified.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)
(Reported by Kim Yong-woo | Video by Lee Seunghee | Graphics by Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.