Police looking into Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won's so-called "new drug solicitation allegation" asked prosecutors for past investigation records but did not receive records related to Kim, it has been confirmed.
Prosecutors who investigated the allegation gave Kim a suspension of indictment in Dec. 2024.
According to legal sources on the 14th, the trial division of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office recently delivered to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul the indictment containing charges including a promise to offer bribes by a broker, a person surnamed Yang, and Genencell founder, a person surnamed Kang.
In contrast, it replied to police that it would be difficult to provide the remaining investigation records, including materials related to Kim. Taking into account that the trial is currently underway, prosecutors provided only the indictments of the broker and others to police.
Prosecutors were said to have determined that it would be difficult to hand over investigation records other than the indictments to police, as the trials of Yang and Kang are currently ongoing.
Earlier, police were assigned a complaint case related to Kim's "new drug solicitation allegation" and requested past investigation records from the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office to see whether it met the requirements for a reinvestigation.
Kim is suspected of, in 2021, receiving through broker Yang a request from COVID-19 treatment developer Genencell and then contacting at the time Korea's Ministery of Food and Drug Safety chief Kim Gang-lip to ask for a swift review of approval for the treatment's clinical trials. After Kim was nominated as Minister of Justice, the past allegation resurfaced and related complaints followed.
Police have currently assigned two complaint cases surrounding Kim to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul.