Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won met with broker Yang Mo, who was involved in a past case of alleged bribery for approval of new drug clinical trials, in February 2022. A photo of the meeting was released, raising suspicions of lobbying. According to an analysis of the recording, Kim proposed the meeting, saying "I want to see you so badly that I could cry," and Yang mentioned bringing "something" for Kim. Rep. Han Dong-hoon argued that Kim had helped obtain clinical trial approval through lobbying based on this. He also pointed out that the approval of Janssen's clinical trial plan was twice as fast as average and demanded clarification of the review criteria from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Kim explained that it was a chance encounter, but suspicions remain.
