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Kim Seung-won, a member of the Democratic Party and candidate for Minister of Justice, has been confirmed to have sent a request text for the expedited approval of a COVID-19 drug to the head of the Food and Drug Administration in 2021. On the 2nd, lawmaker Han Dong-hoon revealed on Facebook that Kim sent a message to Kim Kang-rip, the then head of the FDA, at 11:10 AM on October 12, 2021. The message read, "There are three departments handling this: herbal medicine, clinical systems, and statistical analysis. Please ask the responsible staff to process it quickly. The company is Genensel. I mentioned this out of concern for national wealth leakage. Thank you, Director."
It has been revealed that Kim received a similar request text from Yang, who has been identified as a broker in the alleged favoritism case, just 15 minutes before sending his message. Yang reportedly sent the text at the request of Professor Kang, the founder and chairman of Genensel. In response, the former director stated, "We are currently working on supplementing the materials as you are concerned. I have conveyed this to the staff," to which Kim requested, "Please examine this carefully to prevent any national wealth leakage."
Subsequently, Kim forwarded the message he received from the former director to Yang, and the FDA approved the clinical trial plan for the new drug two weeks later. However, the FDA stated that it processed COVID-19 treatment trials within an average of five days at the time and that it could not be concluded as favoritism. The prosecution has captured evidence that Kang's side attempted to transfer 5 million won to Kim's account, but they decided to suspend prosecution until December 2024. Kim has claimed, "I only conveyed a complaint, and there was no improper lobbying." This incident is expected to be a major issue in future hearings.