Kim Seung-won apologizes for drunk-driving conviction and explains alleged MFDS lobbying

Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won apologized after records revealed that he was fined for drunk driving in 2008, five months after leaving his judicial post at Suwon District Court.

“Drunk driving is a wrong that cannot be tolerated for any reason,” Kim said on Sept. 4. His confirmation hearing team added that he “should have acted with greater discipline as a lawyer at the time” and said he “deeply regrets” the incident and sincerely apologizes to the public.

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Drunk driving is a wrong that cannot be tolerated for any reason.

The conviction has drawn attention because Kim later criticized lawyers disciplined for drunk driving. As a member of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee in October 2022, he released data from the Korean Bar Association and said the association should take appropriate action to uphold legal ethics.

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I should have acted with greater discipline as a lawyer at the time.

Kim’s team also offered an extensive defense against allegations that he lobbied the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2021 to help Genencell, a new-drug company operated by Kang, obtain approval for a clinical trial related to a COVID-19 treatment. The allegations center on a request from broker Yang and contact with then-MFDS chief Kim Kang-lip. The opposition has called for a special counsel investigation after prosecutors uncovered details of the alleged request and photographs showing Kim with Yang and the judge who later handled a detention-warrant hearing in the case.

Kim’s team said he did not request treatment approval, priority review, relaxed standards or skipped procedures. It said the timing of his contact alone could not prove that he affected the approval or its processing. The team also said Kim merely provided general instructions on how to make legal political donations and never demanded or agreed to receive money in exchange for conveying a complaint. Prosecutors determined that an indictment was possible but deferred prosecution after the donation could not be transferred because the account limit had been reached. Kim’s team said he met the judge and Yang by chance at a private gathering in February 2022, about two years before the warrant review, and had no subsequent contact or influence over the proceedings.

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I deeply regret it and sincerely apologize to the public.