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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

After broker recording mentions reporting through the Blue House, ministerial nominee says remarks were exaggerated

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Prosecutors reportedly obtained a 2021 recording in which a broker said Kim Seung-won wanted a report on a COVID-19 drug trial approval submitted through the Blue House.
  • Kim's confirmation team released a call recorded four minutes earlier, saying he only offered to ask the food and drug safety chief to look into the delayed approval and did not mention the Blue House.
  • Prosecutors did not charge Kim with abuse of power, but his alleged intervention and the broker's contacts with politicians, judges, prosecutors and business leaders are expected to draw scrutiny at the hearing.

A broker's claim that a ministerial nominee sought a Blue House report on a COVID-19 drug trial has collided with a recording released by the nominee's team that contains no mention of the presidential office.

Prosecutors investigating allegations of lobbying for approval of a clinical trial by drug developer GenNCell reportedly obtained a recording of a conversation between broker Yang and the company's founder, Kang, on Oct. 12, 2021. Yang told Kang that Kim Seung-won had said the former head of the Food and Drug Safety Ministry should submit a report “through the Blue House,” and that Kim would look into it if the report came from there.

He said to submit the report through the Blue House.

· Yang, the broker, as quoted in a recordingThe statement formed the basis for the allegation that Kim sought a presidential-office report on the clinical-trial approval.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office launched a full investigation in January 2023 into allegations that Kang gave money to Yang in return for lobbying during the clinical-trial approval process. Investigators suspected that the food and drug safety ministry may have prepared a report for the Blue House concerning GenNCell's COVID-19 treatment. They also examined whether Kim and the former ministry chief could face abuse-of-power charges if they had improperly used their authority.

Then I will tell him to look into it directly and ask him to take care of it and report back.

· Kim Seung-wonIn a separate recording released by Kim's confirmation team, he offered to contact the food and drug safety chief about the delayed approval.

Kim's confirmation preparation team strongly denied the broker's account. It released a recording of Kim's call with Yang at 9:12 a.m. on the same day, four minutes before Yang spoke with Kang. When Kim asked what Yang wanted, Yang said the trial data were the best in South Korea and that approval was being delayed. Kim replied that he would ask the ministry chief to look into it directly and report back. The call did not mention the Blue House.

Kim's team argued that Yang may have added the Blue House reference to make the approval appear to be his achievement and strengthen his case for seeking payment. Prosecutors did not apply an abuse-of-power charge to Kim and in December 2024 deferred indictment on other allegations, including a promise of intermediation bribery. The hearing is therefore expected to examine whether Yang's account was false and what Kim actually asked the ministry to do. Prosecutors also found contacts and recordings involving a former Blue House senior secretary, former lawmakers, at least six prosecutors and judges, and numerous company executives.

What do you want right now?

· Kim Seung-wonHe asked this during the call with Yang that Kim's team released to challenge the broker's account.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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