{
  "id": 5891768,
  "title": "Han Dong-hoon, Kim Seung-won 'clinical trial approval request' phone call revealed again... Dem \"Must reveal how it was obtained\"",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/story-5891768",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-06T01:05:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hankyoreh",
    "slug": "hankyoreh",
    "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/politics_general/1276433.html"
  },
  "original_language": "ko",
  "account": "A Democratic Party lawmaker has released two phone call recordings from 2021 between Kim Sung-won, a candidate for the Ministry of Justice, and a broker named Lee, allegedly related to a mishandling of a clinical trial approval for a COVID-19 treatment by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The recordings were obtained through a call interception and were made public by the lawmaker on Facebook. In the recordings, Lee alleges that the KFDA's chief, Kim Gak-rim, did not forward the matter to the appropriate department, while Kim responds, \"So what? I know.\" Additionally, KFDA officials' correspondence, including a text message from KFDA chief's secretary, Go, to Kim, requesting immediate processing of the clinical trial approval for a COVID-19 treatment, was also made public. The lawmaker claims that this correspondence represents a successful lobbying effort by Kim Sung-won, who allegedly lobbied Kim Gak-rim, who in turn passed it on to the relevant officials within the KFDA. However, the investigation by the prosecutor's office concluded with a non-prosecution decision, meaning the accused was not charged, but the case could be reopened by the prosecutor's office at a later date. The Democratic Party has pressured the lawmaker to reveal the means by which the recordings were obtained and has demanded an apology and forgiveness from the public. The National Legislative Ethics Committee plans to hold an inquiry hearing for Kim Sung-won on the 15th.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}