Genencel founder Kang sold 660,000 shares worth approximately 6.29 billion Korean won to KOSDAQ-listed Sejong Medical on October 19, 2021, shortly before the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved clinical trials for Genencel’s COVID-19 drug. Sejong Medical also bought 5 billion Korean won in Genencel convertible bonds. The transaction followed broker Yang Mo’s requests for help from Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won, who contacted ministry head Kim Kang-lip on October 12, 2021, to expedite the process and relayed the ministry’s response. Sejong Medical’s stock rose more than 15% after the October 27 approval before falling nearly 22% the following day, while the value of its Genencel holdings reached zero by the end of 2022. Genencel later reduced its trial plans and halted the trial temporarily in May 2023. Prosecutors found falsified animal-testing documents, omitted adverse events including hamster deaths, and an attempt to obtain 10.1 billion Korean won in government funding with manipulated materials. Kang was sentenced in December 2024 to three years in prison, suspended for five years. Kim received a 2024 suspended indictment over the lobbying allegations, denies wrongdoing and says he only relayed a public-interest complaint. His relationships with Yang and Judge Jung, who rejected a 2023 arrest warrant for Kang, have also drawn scrutiny, alongside criticism of his representation of convicted sexual offenders and calls for his withdrawal or a special-counsel investigation.