With the offensive blunted, Kim showed little sign of scrambling to defend himself, answering allegations of falsified data on Genencell's new drug by saying, "I studied humanities, so I don't know how the treatment performs." He even counterattacked independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who had raised various allegations during the vetting period, saying, "I will definitely find out whether internal prosecution material was leaked."
Kim opened by bowing his head at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 15, saying of the various allegations raised, "I am sorry for causing the public concern." Ahead of the hearing, public sentiment had turned negative amid allegations including solicitation for approval of a COVID-19 new drug clinical trial, a suspicious relationship with a broker surnamed Yang, collusion with a sitting judge, favors involving his spouse and children, and controversy over defending a sexual violence suspect.
The PPP opened fire by newly raising allegations that former Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Hyun-young was involved in the new drug lobbying case. PPP Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek said two Catholic University of Korea-affiliated hospitals (Bucheon St. Mary's and Eunpyeong St. Mary's) were among the five hospitals that conducted clinical trials of Genencell's treatment, and pointed to Shin — a Catholic medical school graduate who was then a member of the Health and Welfare Committee — as the "link" in the lobbying. Kwak claimed, "Song Young-gil, Choi Jae-sung, Kim Seung-won and Shin Hyun-young (all ruling-bloc politicians) appear. It's the Democratic Party's 'poison gate.'"
PPP Rep. Kim Min-jeon pressed Kim on his responsibility, citing cases such as Genencell concealing the deaths of test animals during the clinical process. PPP Rep. Joo Jin-woo raised allegations of preferential support for a social cooperative run by Kim's family and played an actual recording of his spouse's voice. In the recording, Kim's spouse said, "We were rejected in a fire safety inspection, but a Suwon city team leader did us a lot of favors."
But reaction held that the opposition's offensive fell short of expectations. Kim responded by rebutting the allegations point by point or raising his voice in denial. On the allegations involving Shin, he countered, "I never went there, and wouldn't prosecutors have investigated this at the time?" On allegations of manipulated treatment data, he said, "I'm a humanities major." On the related prosecution investigation ending in a suspended indictment, he turned his fire on prosecutors, calling it "the product of a split indictment."
To Joo, he shot back, "Try having your son work at that developmental center once," adding, "If you knew how hard they work, you couldn't ask questions like this." Kim also shed tears while explaining the cooperative allegations. On granting the special counsel law the authority to withdraw the indictment against President Lee Jae-myung, he said, "I oppose inserting a withdrawal-of-indictment clause into the special counsel law. There's no need to do it artificially."
The ruling bloc went all out to "protect Kim Seung-won," both inside and outside the hearing room. Democratic Party Rep. Kim Dong-a criticized the opposition, saying, "With no new facts, they dig up a case closed five years ago and raise allegations as if they were new." When opposition lawmakers kept raising allegations of Genencell stock manipulation, Democratic Party Rep. Seo Young-kyo, who chairs the judiciary committee, rebuked them: "Genencell is not a listed company. Do your homework." Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do provided outside firepower, praising Kim as "someone with experience in both courtroom practice and reform legislation."
The offensive against Han Dong-hoon also continued. Regarding his investigation records disclosed by Han, Kim said, "It is certain this is material that should never have been leaked. I asked (prosecutors) for the investigation records and they wouldn't give them to me," vowing to uncover the truth. Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Park Eun-jung charged, "Of the 604 social media posts Han put up over 15 days, 412 were about the nominee," adding, "That's stalking." Meeting reporters at the National Assembly that afternoon, Han said, "Kim Seung-won, the 'oppa poison lobbyist,' and the people determined to make such a person the head of a justice ministry serving the public are the enemies of democracy."
Shouting and abusive language also flew. When Democratic Party Rep. Park Jie-won called Joo "a man like a viper," opposition lawmakers protested in unison. Joo shot back, "I held back three times out of courtesy," and Kwak also objected, calling it "a personal insult." Democratic Party Rep. Park Kyoun-taek told PPP Rep. Kim Tae-gyu to "get that hideous face out of here," and Rep. Kim Dong-a called Joo "a devil." Joo drew ruling party protests by asking, "Did you get orders from Kim Hyun-ji?" Protests also erupted after an aide from Kim's parliamentary office was caught on camera filming Joo's questioning. The opposition also aired complaints about Chairwoman Seo's handling of the session.
