Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won on the 11th addressed various allegations surrounding him, saying, "As a politician, I am truly sorry for causing concern to the people."
Meeting reporters on the way to the personnel hearing preparation team office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, that day, Kim said, "I will make sure to explain the details clearly at the confirmation hearing," noting the same.
Regarding the "new drug lobbying allegations," Kim said, "It was a conveyance with the intent that a small company's procedure was not proceeding due to some pressure from multinational corporations, so please find out why, and please resolve such unfairness."
He added, "I conveyed it to the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety chief just once and exchanged one or two related text messages—that's all," explaining, "I judged that to be content that could fully be conveyed as part of handling a grievance petition."
Kim became embroiled in controversy after hiring as a legislative aide in his office the son of Presiding Judge Jeong In-jae, who dismissed the arrest warrant for Kang, a person surnamed Kang, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Genencell that appears in the new drug lobbying allegations.
He said, "Because I have nothing to hide, I publicly conducted an interview and entrusted the work of a legislative aide." He went on, "As I understand it, a legislative aide is not a full-time employee but assists with National Assembly duties," adding, "To my recollection, the person worked hard and went through a lot while receiving only about 1 million won a month."
Kim did not answer whether an official announcement was issued when hiring the legislative aide.