Police Launch Full Investigation into Kim Seung-won’s Alleged ‘New Drug Solicitation’... Second Day of Complainant Questioning in Yong Hye-in Case

[Financial News] Police have launched a full investigation into allegations that Kim Seung-won, nominee for Minister of Justice, improperly sought approval for a clinical trial of a COVID-19 treatment. Questioning of a complainant in a case involving Yong Hye-in, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, also continued for a second day over allegations including the indirect payment of political funds as her spouse’s salary.
Yeongdeungpo Police Station began questioning Lee Jong-bae, a former Seoul city councilor who filed a complaint against Kim Seung-won, former Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Commissioner Kim Gang-lip, and Ministry of Food and Drug Safety officials at around 10:30 a.m. on the 11th. The complaint alleges violations including the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, abuse of authority, and dereliction of duty. This is the first questioning of a complainant in connection with the allegations involving Kim Seung-won.
Kim Seung-won previously became the subject of an investigation over allegations that, in 2021, he received a solicitation from GENENCELL, a COVID-19 treatment company, through a broker surnamed Yang and then asked Kim Gang-lip to approve clinical trials for the treatment.
He was given deferred prosecution by prosecutors in 2024 but has since filed a constitutional complaint challenging the decision. Because deferred prosecution is not a final court ruling, it does not prevent a reinvestigation, allowing police and other investigative agencies to reopen the case.
Before the questioning, Lee Jong-bae argued that Kim Seung-won’s request for expedited handling may have led to Kim Gang-lip pressuring working-level officials and granting a hasty approval. He called for an investigation into possible abuse of authority and violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
He stressed, "A thorough investigation is needed into what kind of pressure Kim Seung-won’s solicitation exerted. If a treatment as toxic as poison had actually been administered to patients in clinical trials, it could have caused an unimaginable and horrific disaster. Any case involving the lives and safety of the public must be punished severely under a zero-tolerance policy."
He also said, "If the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety had requested the original data from the company that conducted GENENCELL’s animal testing, compared it with GENENCELL’s data, or visited the company to investigate, thereby activating a process for detecting falsified data, it could have found GENENCELL’s false data, demanded corrections, or rejected approval and prevented the disaster. Failing to do so constitutes dereliction of duty."
Kim Seung-won, meanwhile, denied the allegations while speaking to reporters as he arrived at his personnel hearing preparation office that day. He explained, "It was simply a message conveying that a small company’s procedures were not moving forward because of pressure from a multinational corporation, asking why that was happening and requesting that the unfairness be addressed."
Kim Seung-won said he had confirmed materials showing that clinical trials for the treatment were also being conducted overseas at the time. He added that he had taken into account the fact that both the ruling and opposition parties and the government were working to develop treatments. He further explained, "I conveyed it to the commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety exactly once and exchanged only one or two related text messages. I judged that this was something that could sufficiently be conveyed as a grievance petition."
Yeongdeungpo Police Station also plans to question Kim Soon Hwan, secretary-general of the Committee for Measures for Ordinary People’s Livelihoods, on the 12th. Kim Soon Hwan filed a complaint against Kim Seung-won on similar grounds.

Meanwhile, Yeongdeungpo Police Station is also investigating allegations involving Yong Hye-in, including the so-called payment of her husband’s salary through special party dues and preferential use of an airport VIP lounge. After questioning Lee Jong-bae the previous day over his complaint against Yong Hye-in for alleged violations of the Political Funds Act, occupational embezzlement, and breach of trust, police summoned and questioned Kim Soon Hwan that morning over his complaint alleging abuse of authority and violations of the Public Official Election Act.
In a statement issued the previous day, Lee Jong-bae criticized the allegation, saying, "If a lawmaker wife paid a large amount in special party dues to the party and her husband received a salary from it, that would not only violate the Political Funds Act but also constitute bizarre financial engineering to increase household income by circumventing political funds whose uses are strictly restricted."
Kim Soon Hwan filed a complaint on the 2nd, alleging that Yong Hye-in violated KAC’s operating rules, which restrict use of the Gimpo International Airport VIP lounge to official duties, by using the lounge before traveling to Jeju Island with her family in March 2023.
He also filed a complaint alleging that Yong Hye-in violated the Public Official Election Act by filming a video in mid-May, ahead of the June 3 local elections, while wearing clothing bearing the party name in front of the campaign office of Park Eun-young, a Basic Income Party candidate in Gwangsan District of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, and uploading it to social media.
Yong Hye-in held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, the previous day and categorically denied the allegations against her.
[email protected] Park Seong-hyun Reporter