[Anchor]

Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won has explained that his involvement in the alleged lobbying of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was merely conveying a grievance petition for the public interest. However, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon strongly countered this by claiming there is a call recording between the nominee and a broker. Lawmaker Han claimed that the nominee remarked that hundreds of billions of won could be made once the clinical trial for the new drug was approved.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

According to the prosecution's indictment, on October 6, 2021, Kang, the head of Genencell, a COVID-19 treatment developer, asked a broker surnamed Yang to "have political figures help get the clinical trial approval for the new drug quickly."

On the following days, the 7th and 8th, Yang conveyed this to Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won through phone calls and text messages. Four days later, on the 12th, Nominee Kim asked then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Gang-lip for swift processing.

Two weeks later, on the 26th, the clinical trial for the new drug was approved.

Regarding the suspicion of lobbying, Nominee Kim's side has maintained that he "merely delivered a public interest grievance petition asking for the clinical trial procedures to be reviewed fairly."

However, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon raised suspicions today (September 4) that there is a transcript of a phone call between Nominee Kim and Yang, pointing to different circumstances.

Lawmaker Han claimed that in a phone call on September 14, 2021, when Yang described Genencell CEO Kang to Nominee Kim by saying, "It's good for when Oppa runs for election, and this person will soon become the head of a listed company with smooth funding channels," and "someone who will be a great help to Oppa," Nominee Kim replied, "Then shall we meet right after Chuseok?"

Lawmaker Han added that on October 7 of the same year, when Yang stated, "We have already secured 30 billion won in investments," Nominee Kim responded, "The moment it gets approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, you can completely make hundreds of billions of won."

According to the 2024 first-instance ruling regarding Genencell CEO Kang's charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means, Kang created false data as if therapeutic efficacy had been confirmed without conducting animal testing, and omitted side effects of the new drug identified in separate tests.

The first-instance court, which sentenced Kang to prison, rebuked him for obtaining approval for clinical trials from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety using false patents and experimental data, and attempting to gain personal profit by inflating and then selling the shares of Genencell that he held.

One week prior to the clinical trial approval, Sejong Medical, a KOSDAQ-listed company, bought 660,000 shares of Kang's Genencell for 6.3 billion won and also signed a contract to acquire convertible bonds worth 5 billion won.

According to the ruling, at this time, Kang told Yang that Sejong Medical's stock price would rise and had Yang buy stocks in advance, saying, "I will send 100 million won, so let's share the returns."

On October 27, 2021, when the fact of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's clinical trial approval was made public, Sejong Medical's stock price temporarily surged by more than 15% before plunging to the lower limit.

Nominee Kim's side did not release any particular explanation regarding the call transcript claimed by Lawmaker Han.

(Photo: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video: Seunghee | Graphics: Kang Yoon-jung, Kim Min-young)