Kim Seung-won confirmation hearing opens Tuesday amid new-drug lobbying allegations, 'oppa gate' offensive

The confirmation hearing for Kim Seung-won, nominee for minister of justice, is set for Tuesday — roughly two weeks after his nomination, during which he has been embroiled in allegations over new-drug lobbying and a family cooperative, raising questions about his personal ethics. A bruising exchange over his character is expected, and his position on withdrawing the indictment against President Lee Jae Myung is also expected to emerge as a key issue.

According to the Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly, the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold Kim's confirmation hearing on Tuesday. It will be 16 days since President Lee named Kim as the successor to former Justice Minister Jeong Seong-ho.

The central issue at Kim's hearing is the allegation that he lobbied for approval of a clinical trial for a new COVID-19 drug. The allegation centers on claims that in 2021, while serving as a sitting lawmaker, Kim received a request from a person surnamed Yang — someone he had known for years — and passed along a request to then-Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Commissioner Kim Gang-rip to approve a clinical trial for a COVID-19 treatment developed by Genencell, a company founded by a person surnamed Kang. The allegations gained traction after Han Dong-hoon, an independent lawmaker and former justice minister, began publicly raising them in a series of statements following Kim's nomination.

Han has released the contents of phone calls between Kim, Yang and others, as well as text messages Kim sent to the former commissioner, framing the matter as "oppa gate." Recordings reportedly include Yang addressing Kim as "oppa" — a Korean term used by a woman to address an older male acquaintance. Kim has described Yang as a close junior acquaintance he has known for a long time, while maintaining that "there was no lobbying." His camp has also addressed his contact with the former commissioner, saying he "simply relayed a civil complaint" and "only asked that the clinical trial process be reviewed to ensure it was proceeding fairly and promptly."

The matter has expanded beyond the lobbying allegation itself to encompass three related controversies: the background behind the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office decision to suspend indictment of Kim, the background behind the rejection of an arrest warrant for Kang, and allegations that Han leaked internal prosecutorial documents. Prosecutors investigated the Genencell new-drug lobbying allegations following a whistleblower report, and in December 2024 the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office issued a suspended indictment — a decision that acknowledges the charges but declines to prosecute, unlike a finding of no wrongdoing. Kim has disputed the suspended indictment, arguing he should have been cleared entirely, and filed a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court in May last year.

Han and the opposition, however, have questioned the circumstances behind the suspended indictment. An indictment plan drawn up by prosecutors in August 2024 and released by Han's camp shows the original investigative team leaned toward indicting Kim, with a recommended sentence of eight months in prison. The office then consulted with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and issued the suspended indictment in December of that year. Han has argued that prosecutors handled the case after the Dec. 3 emergency martial law declaration, and has raised questions about how the case was processed.

Also at issue is the relationship between the judge who rejected the arrest warrant for Kang — identified by the surname Jeong — and Kim, Yang and Kang. After the new-drug lobbying allegations flared following Kim's nomination, a photograph emerged showing Judge Jeong posing with Kim and Yang, reportedly taken in February 2022 at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul. Judge Jeong rejected the arrest warrant for Kang in December of the following year. The controversy deepened further with reports that Judge Jeong's son worked as a legislative aide in Kim's parliamentary office in 2024. Kim's camp has said it provided no improper financial benefits.

The ruling party has rallied to Kim's defense while turning its fire on Han, who has continued to release internal prosecutorial documents. The Democratic Party filed a police complaint against Han on charges including leaking official secrets, and on Sunday, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Dong-a appeared at a police station for questioning as the complainant. The Ministry of Justice also launched an inquiry into the alleged leak of prosecutorial records. Han, for his part, has denied receiving the documents from prosecutors. At a National Assembly press conference on Thursday, he said, "I am confident about my source, and I have no reason to hide behind parliamentary immunity, which is why I will keep posting on Facebook."

A social cooperative where Kim's spouse and child work is also expected to become a flashpoint at the hearing. People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo has alleged that Kim's family members are employed at a social cooperative in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province — Kim's constituency — and raised questions about the circumstances surrounding his child's hiring and subsequent pay raises. Kim's camp has denied the allegations, saying the cooperative is led by someone other than Kim's spouse.

Beyond the ethics controversy, Kim's stance on the sweeping transformation of the criminal justice system is also drawing attention. The prosecution service is set to be abolished on Oct. 2, with a new Serious Crimes Investigation Agency and a Public Prosecution Service taking its place. The Democratic Party has recently gone on the offensive over a proposed organizational structure for the Public Prosecution Service that would include a judicial oversight division to review police decisions not to refer cases. The ruling camp has said it particularly favors reducing the number of prosecutors.

Above all, observers say Kim's position on withdrawing the indictment against President Lee will be the central question at the hearing. Kim previously served as co-chair of a Democratic Party group advocating for the withdrawal of charges against the president. His nomination immediately drew criticism from some quarters as groundwork for pursuing that withdrawal. The Ministry of Justice's Committee on Prosecutors' Respect for Human Rights and the Future of the Prosecution is currently examining whether prosecutors abused their investigative powers in cases involving President Lee and others.