Informant on suspicion of Kim Seung-won petitions for reinvestigation by Public Prosecution Office... Petition to protect Han Dong-hoon

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeon Jae-hoon = A public interest informant who reported to the Public Prosecution Service the suspicions of Rep. Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party of Korea's 'Genencell drug clinical trial request' filed a petition requesting a reinvestigation.

According to Yonhap News coverage on the 13th, public interest informant A submitted a petition to the Seoul Western District Public Prosecution Office (then Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office) on the 28th of last month, requesting that Rep. Kim's alleged bribery promise case be reinvestigated and indictment filed.

On October 12, 2021, Rep. Kim received a request from broker Yang to expedite the approval of the pharmaceutical company Genencell's clinical trial for COVID-19 treatment, and conveyed this to Kim Kang-lip, then Minister of Food and Drug Safety.

In fact, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the clinical trial plan two weeks later.

The Seoul Western Public Prosecution Office, which began investigating Rep. Kim following a public interest tip from Mr. A, said that Rep. Kim was admitted to the charge of accepting 5 million won in political donations in return for mediation, but suspended the indictment in December 2024, saying, “It is difficult to conclude that the solicitation itself is illegal.”

In cases where the indictment has been suspended, the investigative agency can investigate again because the case has not yet received a final decision from the court.

The suspicion was brought to the spotlight once Rep. Kim was nominated as a candidate for Minister of Justice, and a complaint requesting an investigation into the related suspicions was filed with the police and an investigation is underway.

In addition, Mr. A submitted an electronic petition to the National Assembly on this day, requesting that the Public Interest Reporter Protection Act be amended so that people who publicize the details of the incident for public interest cannot be punished for leaking official secrets.

Through the petition, Mr. A said that independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon is being investigated by the police after raising suspicions about lawmaker Kim by disclosing the prosecutor's investigation records, and that "politicians who revealed the truth and citizens who reported the truth must be protected together so that the next person can also have courage."