[Anchor]

While suspicions surrounding nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won regarding lobbying allegations involving the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety are mounting, Nominee Kim has avoided giving specific explanations, stating that he will address the matter at the hearing. The police have assigned a complaint filed over Kim's alleged lobbying to a frontline police station and are reviewing whether to reinvestigate.

We have the first report from reporter Shin Yong-il.

[Reporter]

Nominee for Minister of Justice Kim Seung-won arrives at the personnel hearing preparation office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Unlike yesterday (the 7th), when he systematically rebutted reporters' questions point by point, Nominee Kim gave a brief response stating he would explain himself at the hearing before heading into the office.

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: I will explain everything in detail at the hearing. (To check the reasons for the delay in review...) I will speak thoroughly at the hearing.]

As suspicions continue to spread, the case regarding Kim's alleged lobbying, recently filed by civic groups and others, has been assigned to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul.

Since the prosecution issued a suspension of indictment in 2024, the police are expected to decide whether to launch a reinvestigation once they review the contents of the complaint and legal principles.

Today, the personnel hearing preparation team continued to counter the allegations through an official notice.

Regarding the fact that the new drug for which he allegedly lobbied the Minister of Food and Drug Safety was a shingles treatment rather than a COVID-19 treatment, the team explained that "there was no mention whatsoever in the materials provided to Nominee Kim that it was a shingles treatment, so he was unaware of this fact."

Maintaining that "he understood that necessary procedures were underway for the approval of a COVID-19 treatment," they reiterated their stance that neither illegal lobbying nor promises of quid pro quo were recognized through the prosecution's investigation or the court's ruling.

Furthermore, as suspicions grew with the release of phone call transcripts involving a broker known as Yang and Genencel founder Kang, Kim's side released two transcripts totaling four A4 pages—one of a call between Kim and Yang, and another between Yang and Kang—stating they wanted to correct exaggerated claims.

(Camera & Sound: Bae Moon-san | Video Editing: Choi Jin-hwa | Design: Jang Sung-beom)