“I Never Took the Case,” He Said... Kim Seung-won Apologizes for “Memory Lapse” After Handling Case Involving Judge Who Rejected GENENCELL Warrant

[Financial News] Kim Seung-won, a nominee for Minister of Justice, was found to have taken on a case heard by a panel that included Presiding Judge Jeong, who was allegedly involved in lobbying for approval of a new drug’s clinical trial when Kim was a practicing attorney. This directly contradicts his response at the National Assembly confirmation hearing the previous day, when he said he had never handled a case involving Judge Jeong, sparking controversy over an alleged “false answer.”
According to legal circles on the 16th, Kim represented the plaintiff in a civil lawsuit heard by the Seoul High Court’s Civil Division 21 in 2013–2014, when he was practicing as an attorney. At the time, Presiding Judge Jeong was an associate judge on the panel.
The client lost at both the first and second trials, and no ruling favorable to the client was issued. However, at the confirmation hearing held by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly the previous day, Kim responded to the effect that “as an attorney, I never took on a case heard by Judge Jeong’s panel,” effectively amounting to perjury.
As the controversy grew, Kim’s side issued a statement to the media on the 16th, saying, “I handled numerous cases over approximately 12 years, and because Judge Jeong was not the presiding judge in this case, I had no particular recollection of it.” It added, “I ask for your understanding that there was a mistake in the process of answering during the hearing based only on my memory. I sincerely regret giving an answer that could have caused misunderstanding.”
The intertwined history between the two is also drawing renewed attention. Presiding Judge Jeong and Kim previously worked together as associate judges at Jeonju District Court, where they became acquainted. In particular, controversy arose after a photograph was released showing alleged lobbying broker Yang, Kim, and Presiding Judge Jeong together around February 2022, before Judge Jeong rejected a detention warrant for Kang, the founder of GENENCELL.
It was also revealed that Presiding Judge Jeong’s son worked as a legislative aide in Kim’s parliamentary office for three months in mid-2024, about six months after the warrant was rejected, prompting allegations of a “reward appointment.” Kim’s side previously dismissed the allegations, saying, “There is clearly no causal relationship between the warrant rejection and the aide’s employment.”
After completing a 14-hour confirmation hearing the previous day, Kim is facing intense pressure to resign from opposition parties and civic groups over allegations including lobbying for approval of clinical trials for GENENCELL’s COVID-19 treatment.
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter