(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Soo-yoon = On the 5th, independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon refuted it as a "brazen lie" when Kim Seung-won, candidate for Minister of Justice, explained on the 5th that he "met by chance" in relation to a February 2022 photo taken with Mr. Yang, a broker involved in a case involving a request for approval of a new drug clinical trial, and the judge in charge of the warrant.
In a Facebook post, Rep. Han said, "Is it true that you 'accidentally' ran into Mr. Yang around February 2022?" and then released a related transcript.
According to the transcript, Candidate Kim said in a phone call with Yang on February 9, 2022, when he was a first-term member of the National Assembly, "My younger brother, I miss you so much that tears come out of my eyes." In response, Yang asked, "Brother, I will run now. Where are you?"
When Candidate Kim said, "Yeouido," Yang responded, "I'm in Hanam, and I'll be arriving in an hour. Is that okay? Then, I'll be leaving right away, so please give me the address."
Candidate Kim then said, “Wait a minute… Oh, there is a personnel process for our court, so” to which Mr. Yang responded, “Oh, is it too long?” and Candidate Kim immediately said, “I’ll wait.”
In the second phone call that took place on the same day, Candidate Kim said, "It's a pity that I can only see you for 20 to 30 minutes," and Mr. Yang said, "It's not a pity. I'm packing a lot of things and going, so just stay for now." Candidate Kim then replies, “Yes, I will stay.”
Regarding the items mentioned by Mr. Yang, a lawmaker asked, “What were the ‘stuff’ that you received in abundance from Mr. Yang?”
In another Facebook post, Rep. Han also posted a transcript of Yang's phone call with another person in October 2021.
In this transcript, Mr. Yang said in relation to the suspicion of requesting approval for clinical trials of a new drug, "It is Seung-won's brother who is responsible for releasing the approval. He spoke to the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, and today he said again, 'Should we push it to the Ministry of Health and Welfare? Since the donation is only 5 million won, you should do well. Everyone is making a move because of you.'"
In response to this, one lawmaker claimed, "The intention was that Mr. Yang should receive enough compensation for lobbying the Minister of Food and Drug Safety since he could only receive 5 million won in donations."
In addition, a member of the National Assembly re-posted an excerpt from the previously released transcript between Candidate Kim and Yang on September 14, 2021, in which Yang said, "If this is financed, it will be good for my brother's election next year."
There was also a link to an article by a person close to him (pro-Han Dong-hoon) who said that in 2022, the 'next year' of 2021, a 'presidential election' was scheduled, rather than a general election in which candidate Kim would run.
He then wrote, "That's right. So, Lee Jae-myeong's Democratic Party supports Kim Seung-won's 'oppa's poison lobby,'" and added, "This will not end with Kim Seung-won's withdrawal."
Furthermore, he criticized, saying, "Private abuse of public power is corruption," and "It is true that they lobbied for the approval of poison to make Room Salon's sister a big hit, but the Democratic Party, which said it was a good thing, and President Lee, who nominated Kim Seung-won despite knowing all this, are corrupt political forces."
Candidate Kim, a former judge, was investigated in October 2021 for requesting approval for a clinical trial of the treatment from then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Kang-lip at the request of Mr. Yang. However, the prosecution suspended indictment of Candidate Kim in December 2024, saying that there was no direct bribery and that it was difficult to determine the illegality of the solicitation.
Later, around February 2022, controversy arose when a photo of candidate Kim, broker Yang, and judge in charge of warrants surnamed Jeong became known.
In response to this, Candidate Kim's personnel hearing preparation team said the previous day, "We only ran into Judge Jeong and Mr. Yang by chance at a public private gathering, and did not meet or contact them after that. Judge Jeong was not involved in the review of the warrant in the case. The two arrest warrant requests for Mr. Yang were reviewed and dismissed by different judges specializing in warrants who were not related to Judge Jeong."
