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Exclusive: Politicians, Prosecutors and Judges Found in Phone of Drug Lobbying Broker

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

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

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Prosecutors reportedly found contacts and call recordings involving politicians, legal officials and business leaders on the phone of a businessman accused of brokering lobbying for a COVID-19 treatment.
  • Investigators concluded that the businessman received more than 900 million won from GenNCell’s founder in exchange for arranging approval of the company’s clinical trial through Kim Seung-won and others.
  • Kim denied making improper requests and said he only passed along a civil complaint to the drug regulator’s chief in a single call.

A businessman accused of brokering lobbying for GenNCell’s COVID-19 treatment allegedly kept the contact details and call recordings of politicians from both major parties, prosecutors and judges on his mobile phone, according to findings reported by the Hankyoreh.

The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office discovered the material in 2023 while investigating allegations that GenNCell had sought help securing approval for a clinical trial. The phone reportedly contained contacts for Kim Seung-won, a candidate for justice minister, former presidential senior secretary for political affairs Choi Jae-sung, a former People Power Party lawmaker, a metropolitan council member, at least six prosecutors and judges, and several corporate executives.

Prosecutors investigated the businessman, identified only by his surname Yang, and GenNCell founder Kang, also identified only by surname. After combining the phone evidence with other material, they concluded that Yang had received more than 900 million won from Kang on the pretext of arranging approval for the clinical trial through Kim and others.

I made exactly one call and exchanged messages about it that same day. At the time, I had never even met the head of the food and drug safety agency.

· Kim Seung-wonKim denied making an improper request regarding GenNCell’s clinical-trial approval.

Investigators also found that Kim and Yang exchanged calls and messages 12 times between February and March 2022. That contact came after Kim had passed a request concerning GenNCell’s clinical-trial approval to the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in October 2021. Prosecutors also confirmed that Yang attended a private gathering on Feb. 10, 2022, at Kim’s suggestion.

As the controversy widened, Kim publicly rejected the allegations the previous day. He said he had never made an improper solicitation connected with approval of GenNCell’s clinical-trial plan. Regarding his call to the food and drug safety chief, Kim said, "I made exactly one call and exchanged messages about it that same day. At the time, I had never even met the head of the food and drug safety agency." He added that he had conveyed the complaint neutrally and courteously because they had no personal acquaintance.

I conveyed the complaint neutrally and courteously because we had no personal acquaintance.

· Kim Seung-wonKim explained his contact with the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
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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