On the 13th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed head-on over Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won's 'suspicion of requesting a clinical trial for a new drug called Genencell' during the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee's audit of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
The People Power Party condemned the ruling party's refusal to accept witnesses related to Genencell and focused on holding the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety responsible for clinical approval, while the Democratic Party countered by saying that additional debate over the candidate for Minister of Justice, who had already resigned, was unnecessary.
◇ In response to Genencell’s refusal to accept witnesses, Noh “concealed the truth” and “no need for political conflict.”
The ruling and opposition parties clashed from the beginning over the request for submission of data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the adoption of witnesses.
People Power Party lawmakers sat down with signs attached to their laptops that read, ‘Concealment of witness refusal data, trampling on the public’s right to know, who do you protect?’ and ‘The truth that needs to be revealed to the public, why can’t we call key witnesses?’
As ruling party members continued to protest loudly, demanding the signs be removed, the meeting was adjourned once and resumed after the signs were removed.
Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Soo-jin said, “I don’t think it is polite to fellow lawmakers to put up picket signs and conduct an audit of government affairs,” and raised her voice by asking, “Why do you bother mentioning here the name of a fellow lawmaker who is not even here and who has already resigned as a candidate for Minister of Justice and make an issue of it?”
In response, Rep. Baek Jong-heon of the People Power Party, a member of the opposition party, countered, "Please start by looking back at the reason why you came out with picket signs at the National Assembly inspection," and added, "The witnesses requested by the People Power Party are people who can answer the questions the public wants to know about how the Genencell clinical trial was approved and why the National Pension Service delayed rebalancing, but they were not adopted due to opposition from the Democratic Party."
The People Power Party also took issue with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's refusal to submit data related to clinical trial approval.
Representative Lee Man-hee of the People's Power Party, chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee, pointed out, "The first experimental report of the (Genencell new drug) by the Chonbuk National University Industry-Academic Collaboration Foundation was 17 pages long, but the final report submitted to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was shortened to 6 pages, excluding 'hamster vomiting blood', etc." He added, "Even though such data is being used as evidence in the trial of the defendant (Genencell representative) Kang Se-chan, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is not submitting the data."
◇ The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s clinical approval process is poor… “Is it a position rather than efficacy?” and “There is no prosecution.”
In its inquiry, the People Power Party continued to delve into the suspicion of Rep. Kim's solicitation, focusing on the controversy over the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's poor clinical approval process.
People Power Party Rep. Ji-ah Han presented text messages that Rep. Kim exchanged with broker Yang Soo-jin in 2021, and asked the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety staff, who had received a text message from then-Minister of Food and Drug Safety Kim Kang-lip, telling them to 'take care', "Are you proceeding with the approval process for all medicines and clinical trials like this?"
Representative Kim Tae-ho of the same party said, "Is it possible that the position of the person making the call is more susceptible to 'medicine' than the efficacy of the medicine? Can there be a shortcut to power when it comes to the medicine that the people take and their health?" and criticized, "Trust in the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has collapsed."
Rep. Choi Bo-yoon also pointed out, "During the Genencell clinical trial process, the external pressure that reached the manager in charge through former Director Kim is not subject to reporting according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's regulations on managing contact with outsiders," and added, "Isn't there a loophole in the regulations?"
In response, Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yoo-kyung responded, “Through this incident, we will continue to look into the areas where the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety failed to filter out data and where punishment was not strengthened.”
On the other hand, the ruling party countered that the investigation had already been completed.
Representative Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party countered, saying, "At the time of 2021-2022 (COVID-19), our country had not even dreamed of developing a vaccine, and the greatest interest of all citizens and members of the National Assembly was on how to receive the vaccine."
Representative Nam In-soon of the same party said that the animal test in which the 'hamster vomiting blood' phenomenon occurred was an efficacy test, not a safety test, and argued, "Of course, you should not submit false data claiming it was an efficacy test, but if you mix the mortality issue of the efficacy test with the results of the toxicity test and call it 'poison,' it could cause considerable misunderstanding to the public."
