Kim Seung-won hearing turns into clash over favor allegations and 'Poison Drug Gate'

The ruling and opposition parties clashed at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing on the 15th over nominee Justice Minister Kim Seung-won's alleged lobbying for a new drug and suspected favoritism involving a social cooperative where his family worked. The allegations claim Kim, at the request of broker Yang Mo, lobbied the Food and Drug Safety commissioner in 2021 to approve clinical trials for a COVID-19 treatment developed by Genexine, represented by Kang Mo. Suspicion of stock manipulation related to Genexine was also raised in connection with the case.

People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Kyu-taek said "the names Song Young-gil, Choi Jae-sung, Kim Seung-won, and Shin Hyun-young appear in the transcript of Yang's recorded conversation," dubbed the scandal a 'Poison Drug Gate,' and called for a parliamentary investigation and a special counsel probe. Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun criticized the nominee, saying it was "favors when others do it, complaint forwarding when I do it."

The Democratic Party denied the allegations fell under the law at all. Rep. Kim Han-gyu emphasized that Kim's actions fell under the exception to the anti-graft law for forwarding citizens' grievances, while Rep. Kim Dong-ah countered that the case had been closed five years ago and was being raised as if new, noting the prosecution under the Yoon Suk-yeol government had concluded that no money changed hands.

The hearing was held without a single witness. The Democratic Party also targeted independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon, who led the allegations, urging an investigation into whether prosecutors leaked case details as the source of the materials—keeping the political battle alive beyond the hearing room.