่ โDesperate Defenseโยท้ โFalling Horseโ War Clouds... Family benefits and prosecution cancellation also considered
Gold โDelivering public interest complaintsโโฆ Controversy over private interests โneeds explanation,โ public opinion
Dong-Hoon Han expands the front line with 'investigation data leaked'... Suspicion of targeted investigation by prosecutors
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Won-jeong Choi = Kim Seung-won, candidate for Minister of Justice, who has been embroiled in numerous suspicions and controversies, will stand on the stage at the National Assembly's personnel hearing on the 15th. It has been 16 days since the minister was nominated.
The opposition party is preparing to thoroughly verify candidate Kim's morality, including the 'suspicion of requesting approval for clinical trials of new drugs', while the ruling party is opposing it as 'a political operation using illegally leaked prosecution investigation records', so clashes are expected at the hearing.
According to the legal and political circles on the 13th, the opposition party is expected to focus its firepower first on candidate Kim's suspicion of soliciting approval for clinical trials of new COVID-19 drugs.
On October 12, 2021, Candidate Kim received a request from Mr. Yang, who was identified as a 'broker', to expedite the approval of the clinical trial of the pharmaceutical company Genencell's COVID-19 treatment, and conveyed this to Kim Kang-lip, Minister of Food and Drug Safety at the time. In fact, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the clinical trial plan two weeks later.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, which began the investigation, said that candidate Kim was admitted to the charge of accepting 5 million won in political donations in exchange for mediation, but suspended the indictment in December 2024, saying, "It is difficult to conclude that the solicitation itself is illegal."
Candidate Kim's side is taking the position that, as a member of the National Assembly, he simply conveyed Genencell's complaints for the public interest of preventing the leakage of national wealth.
However, considering the sensitivity of clinical trials for new drugs, the question of whether Candidate Kim's personal interest with Mr. Yang may have been behind the complaint still remains.
In particular, in the transcript of the phone call between candidate Kim and Mr. Yang, words such as "The moment it is passed and approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, you can make hundreds of billions of won" (Candidate Kim) and "It will be good for my brother's election next year" (Mr. Yang) are mentioned, but the efficacy of the treatment and the reliability of the experimental data are not specifically mentioned, so it is pointed out that a clear explanation is needed.
The opposition party is also claiming that right after the approval of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the so-called 'operation' forces sold a large amount of shares of Sejong Medical, a listed company, the parent company of Genencell, causing damage to investors, and that candidate Kim became the 'kindling' of stock price manipulation.
The spark of controversy is not extinguished as it was revealed that the son of Chief Judge Jeong In-jae, who dismissed the arrest warrant for Genencell founder Kang, worked as a legislative assistant in the office of candidate Kim in 2024.
Chief Judge Jeong also caused controversy when a photo taken with Mr. Yang and candidate Kim was released in February 2022. He dismissed the arrest warrant for Mr. Kang on charges including attempted fraud in December 2023, one year and 10 months after the photo was taken.
Candidate Kim said, "I understand that he worked hard and suffered for only about 1 million won a month," and said, "I am proud."
However, given that the position of legislative assistant is a highly competitive position among job seekers that require 'qualifications', it is evaluated that it touches on the issue of fairness, which is considered a 'disgust' by the public.
The ruling party's strategy is to launch a counterattack by focusing on suspicions that independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who has led the disclosure of the suspicions for over two weeks, is abusing investigation data illegally leaked from within the prosecution.
One lawmaker revealed the contents of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office's indictment plan, saying that at the time of the postponement of the indictment of candidate Kim, the prosecution command took a "disposition to tolerate" the martial law and impeachment situation.
The plan written in August 2024 included a plan to indict candidate Kim on charges of bribery and seek eight months in prison.
Acting Minister of Justice Lee Jin-soo said in a question to the National Assembly on the 9th, "(The possibility that the investigation team leaked data in the past) cannot be ruled out," and "Providing investigation data is a crime equivalent to leaking official secrets or violating the Personal Information Protection Act."
Based on the fact that the prosecution report details Candidate Kim's connections related to the 'Daejang-dong corruption case' and that the investigative department was changed from the original Food and Drug Crime Investigation Department to the 5th Criminal Division, which is in charge of anti-corruption investigation, it seems that a counterattack will be launched, accusing a lawmaker who was the Minister of Justice at the time of being involved in a 'targeted investigation'.
Coincidentally, on the day of the confirmation hearing, a hearing is scheduled at the Seoul Western District Court to determine the charges against Yang and Kang, including their promise to pay bribes.
This is the first time that Mr. Yang has appeared in the media since the suspicion of solicitation of new drugs, so attention is being paid to whether he will make any comments regarding candidate Kim. At the decision trial, the defendant's final statement and the prosecution's sentence are made.
The People Power Party is also attacking the social cooperative that cares for the developmentally disabled, where Candidate Kim's spouse and children work, for "holding a salary feast with the budget of the government and local governments."
The 'Korea Child Development Social Cooperative', of which Candidate Kim's wife is the director, earned a profit of 870 million won through government vouchers over four years. It was found that the spouse and eldest son also received an average monthly salary of about 3.5 million won and 3.06 million won, respectively.
Candidate Kim's side explained, "It was in return for the vouchers I received for providing services to people with disabilities. Caring for people with developmental disabilities requires high-intensity labor, so it is not easy to secure manpower, so my children ended up working there."
Another controversial issue is the suspicion that Candidate Kim created a slush fund through 'payback' in which he paid inflated salaries to party officials while he was chairman of the Gyeonggi Provincial Party Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea and received a portion of them back.
Regarding this, Candidate Kim explained on his first commute to work on the 3rd, "I was also surprised to receive the report," and added, "I understand that an accounting audit has been requested from the Central Party and an investigation is being conducted in accordance with related procedures."
It is expected that the hearing will continue to be criticized for the past history of impersonating underage children and being fined for drunk driving. Candidate Kim acknowledged the facts of these allegations and apologized.
Questions are expected to arise regarding the cancellation of indictment in cases involving President Lee Jae-myung. Candidate Kim served as a co-representative of the Democratic Party's 'Group of Lawmakers Promoting the Cancellation of the Indictment on President Lee Jae-myung's Case and a National Investigation.'
Candidate Kim responded to a written question from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly asking whether he was willing to instruct the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutors' Office (Public Prosecution Office) on whether to cancel the indictment in President Lee's case. He responded, "I will conduct all work fairly in accordance with laws and regulations and thoroughly direct and supervise the prosecution to ensure that it carries out its work fairly while maintaining political neutrality."
