Civic group reports ministerial nominee over alleged improper lobbying for new drug trial

A civic group has filed a complaint against South Korean Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won over allegations that he improperly sought approval for a COVID-19 drug clinical trial. A shareholder group pursuing the same issue also plans to ask the court handling related proceedings to impose a severe punishment.

The Citizens' Livelihood Countermeasures Committee said it submitted a complaint to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the fourth. It asked investigators to examine Kim over alleged abuse of authority, violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and intermediation bribery.

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Kim Seung-won allegedly asked the former minister to look carefully into the clinical-trial approval.

The group alleges that Kim acted in 2021 at the request of an acquaintance, identified by the surname Yang. It says he asked then Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Kang-lip to look after the approval process for a clinical trial by Genexel, a company developing a COVID-19 treatment.

The civic group argues that asking the former minister to "look carefully into" the trial approval amounted to an abuse of authority. It also criticized what it called the nominee's unethical conduct, saying it undermined the values pursued by the Ministry of Justice and the principles of law.

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The accused person's unethical conduct undermines the values pursued by the Ministry of Justice and the principles of law.