[Anchor]

Nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won previously explained that the allegations of lobbying the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety were merely "simple delivery of a civil petition for public interest." However, Independent Representative Han Dong-hoon raised suspicions that there is a phone call recording between Nominee Kim and a broker, which contains remarks by Nominee Kim stating that hundreds of billions of won could be made once the clinical trial for the new drug is approved.

Reporter Kim Kwan-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

According to the prosecution's indictment, on October 6, 2021, Kang Mo-seok, the head of Genencell, a COVID-19 therapeutic development company, asked a broker named Yang Mo-seok to "use political connections to get rapid approval for the new drug's clinical trial."

On the following days, October 7 and 8, Yang delivered this information to Nominee for Justice Minister Kim Seung-won via phone calls and text messages, and four days later on October 12, Nominee Kim asked then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim 강-립 to handle the matter quickly.

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

Regarding the "lobbying allegations," Nominee Kim's side has offered the explanation that he "merely forwarded a public interest civil petition asking for the clinical trial procedures to be reviewed fairly."

However, Independent Representative Han Dong-hoon raised suspicions that a transcript of a phone conversation between Nominee Kim and Yang exists, containing different circumstances.

Representative Han claimed that in a phone call on September 14, 2021, Yang described Genencell CEO Kang to Nominee Kim, saying, "It's good for your brother's election, and this person will soon become the head of a listed company with smooth fund liquidity," adding, "He is someone who seems like he will be a strength to your brother." Nominee Kim reportedly replied, "Then shall we see each other right after Chuseok?"

Representative Han added that on October 7 of the same year, when Yang said, "Investment of 30 billion won has already been secured," Nominee Kim remarked, "The moment it gets approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, you can make hundreds of billions completely."

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 effects had been confirmed without conducting animal experiments, and omitted side effects of the new drug confirmed in separate experiments.

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

One week prior to the approval of the clinical trial, Sejong Medical, a KOSDAQ-listed company, purchased 660,000 shares of Genencell from Kang 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 will rise" and had Yang buy stocks in advance by 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 momentarily skyrocketed by more than 15% before plunging to the lower limit.

Nominee Kim's side has not released any specific explanation regarding the transcript claimed by Representative Han.

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