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Kim Seung-woon, the candidate for Health and Welfare Minister amid allegations of "novel drug lobbying," clarified his actions during the incident. He told the Central Election Commission that he contacted the Food and Drug Safety Agency (KFDA) director about the concern over "unfairly delayed clinical trials of therapeutic drugs" in that situation.

Kim further explained that he only delivered the KFDA's response to the concerned party without participating in approval decisions or the review process, and had no separate contact with KFDA staff. He emphasized that he had no acquaintance with the broker, Yang Ah-myeong, who sought the approval of the drug's clinical trials from the KFDA.

Kim also stressed that he was "unaware of the pressure to apply for the restraining order and the rejection of the restraining order against Yang," which occurred about two years prior and was unrelated to his involvement. Kim further stated that the photos showing his connection with the broker were taken at a private gathering held in 2022 and that there was no expectation of the restraining order process at that time.

He clarified that the two instances of restraining orders applied to Yang were handled by different KFDA officials and were not related to him. Kim also denied any influence of the donor on his judicial process, stating that the political donation account was for general political contributions and not linked to the approval of clinical trials or Kim's personal financial situation.

The controversy surrounding Kim stemmed from the case where Gukang Corporation, led by Yang Ah-myeong, sought a faster approval process for the clinical trials of their Corona-19 treatment from the KFDA. In 2021, Yang requested Kim Seung-woon, the then-Health and Welfare Minister, to expedite the approval process for the company's clinical trials.

After receiving the request, Kim sent a message to Kim Gang-ryeol, the then-KFDA Director, asking for the company's cooperation to carry out the trials quickly. The KFDA approved the trial plans in October 2021, and in December of the same year, Gukang Corporation attempted to donate 500,000 Korean won to Kim but was unsuccessful due to account limitations.