Police reopening an investigation into allegations that Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won lobbied regulators to approve a clinical trial for a new drug asked prosecutors to share their case files but were turned down.
The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office recently replied to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station that sharing the records related to Kim would be difficult, according to legal sources on the 14th. Prosecutors judged that they could not immediately hand over investigative records they need to sustain the prosecution, given that the trial of the two men, surnamed Kang and Yang, is scheduled for the 15th of this month.
Prosecutors did provide the indictment charging Kang, the founder of drugmaker Genencell, and Yang, a broker, with offering a bribe, among other counts. Both agencies say they are continuing to discuss the timing and scope of any data sharing.
Kim received a request from Yang on Oct. 12, 2021, to expedite approval of Genencell's clinical trial for a COVID-19 treatment and passed it on to Kim Kang-lip, then commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The ministry approved the trial plan two weeks later.
In December 2024, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office suspended the indictment, finding that Kim had agreed to accept 5 million won in political donations in return for brokering the request but concluding that it was "difficult to determine that the request itself was unlawful."
About two years later, the allegations resurfaced this month after Kim was nominated as minister, prompting a series of criminal complaints. The case was then assigned to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station.
Because a suspended indictment is not a final ruling by a judge, investigative agencies such as the police can reopen the case.
