Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won speaks to reporters as he walks into the building with office to prepare his confirmation hearing in central Seoul on Sept. 7.KIM JONG-HO
An alleged attempt by Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won to illegally get a Covid-19 drug fast-tracked may involve other lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party (DP), according to text messages revealed by independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon.
Kim has been accused of intervening to expedite regulatory approval for Genencell in 2021 at the request of a broker surnamed Yang. The company concealed animal test results from regulators that showed one in five hamsters given the experimental drug had died.
“Seung-won oppa says he has to wait until the parliamentary audit is over,” Yang wrote in a message to a pharmaceutical company Genencell founder Kang Se-chan, referring to the lawmaker using the term a female speaker calls an older male relative or acquaintance she knows well.
In the text message, as revealed by Rep. Han, Yang also mentioned a DP lawmaker surnamed Choi — whose identity has not been disclosed — and Rep. Song Young-gil.
“Let’s go see the lawmaker when they have a moment as we need the approval for an investigational new drug application before Oct. 19,” Yang said in a message sent to Kang on Oct. 8, 2021. “Rep. Song Young-gil is a fox, so you have to pay him to get him to move.”
In a later message, Yang wrote, “I explained it to Seung-won oppa this morning. I told him we were hoping for 1 billion won [$744,000], but that it might fall through, so the investment could end up being around 800 million won.”
"You are the only person I've told specific numbers to," Yang added in the text.
A selfie of Kim Seung-won, left, and a broker surnamed YangSCREEN CAPTURE
Rep. Han nicknamed the allegation the DP's Oppagate.
“It looks like allegations about Rep. Choi and Rep. Kim could come up next, so I’ll give them a chance to come forward first,” Han said. “Let’s launch a special counsel investigation. How many more are there? The recordings alone could put several people behind bars.”
Han also mocked Kim’s ties to Yang, asking if people cannot get complaints addressed if they are not acquainted with a lawmaker they met in an entertainment salon. The jab referred to Yang’s past operation of an adult entertainment establishment and her relationship with Kim, whom she has known since 2004.
The justice minister nominee pushed back against Han, himself a former justice minister in the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, on Monday morning as he arrived at the office to prepare for his confirmation hearing. He noted that prosecutors had previously investigated the allegations and ultimately suspended his indictment. In 2021, Kim was representing the Gyeonggi Suwon-A electoral district after winning the 2020 general election.
“The investigation took place during the period when Han was a sitting justice minister and mobilized about 10 prosecutors to scrutinize me from top to bottom for three years,” Kim said. “Do you really think a first-term DP lawmaker like me had enough influence over prosecutors to get the case suspended?”
Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon speaks to reporters at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 7.YONHAP
The political battle over Kim has intensified between the ruling DP and main opposition People Power Party (PPP).
Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon’s social media post shows a transcript of a phone call between Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and a broker surnamed Yang. Yang refers to Kim as "oppa," a word a female speaker affectionately uses to refer to an older male relative or acquaintance she knows well.SCREEN CAPTURE
“This Cabinet reshuffle amounts to President Lee Jae Myung declaring that he has given up on the public,” PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said at a supreme council meeting Monday. “Kim’s alleged wrongdoing goes beyond bribery. He is an accomplice to stock manipulation.”
In 2021, Genencell received a 10 billion won ($7.42 million) investment from Sejong Medical. Although Sejong Medical's shares initially surged on the Kosdaq, they later entered a prolonged decline and were delisted from the bourse in June this year.
PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig also attacked the nomination.
“This personnel fiasco is going from bad to worse,” Jeong said. “A lawmaker helped a company that concealed the side effects of a new drug that killed a laboratory rat — all because of one word: ‘oppa.’”
PPP Rep. Na Kyung-won sought to trace the allegations to a wider network of political and business ties.
“Behind Genencell is the electronics maker KH Feelux, which invested heavily in the drug developer that Kim allegedly sought to help by pressuring the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety,” Na said during a press conference held at the National Assembly.
“KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yun, whose group is the parent company of KH Feelux, has extensive financial ties to former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, a key figure in the illegal remittance to North Korea,” referring to allegations that President Lee ordered Ssangbangwool Group to secretly transfer $8 million to North Korea on his behalf while he was Gyeonggi governor so that Gyeonggi officials could visit Pyongyang.
DP Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom, however, defended the nominee during an appearance on MBC radio Monday by likening the allegations to a “far-fetched attempt to force unrelated facts together.”
“The Yoon administration and then-Justice Minister Han turned this case inside out looking for wrongdoing,” the two-term lawmaker said. “What tougher test could there be? Kim has already survived prosecutorial scrutiny far more intense than anything he will face in a National Assembly confirmation hearing.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
