People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said on the 11th that Kim Seung-won, the nominee for Minister of Justice, should face a parliamentary probe instead of a confirmation hearing. Jeong said the allegations had expanded beyond personal corruption into a broader case involving suspected stock price manipulation. He alleged that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved clinical trials for a purported COVID-19 treatment two weeks after Kim contacted the ministry’s head, following a request from Yang, and that Kim applied external pressure to the ministry. Jeong also pointed to trading in Sejong Medical, the largest shareholder of Genexel, which produced the drug. He said the stock surged on expectations of clinical approval before falling sharply after the approval was announced as large-scale selling took place. Jeong argued that a hearing without witnesses could not establish the facts and called for both a parliamentary probe and a special counsel investigation. Separately, he criticized the ambiguity surrounding President Lee Jae Myung’s remarks on the 9th that his term was constitutionally limited and Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Sung Ki-hong’s explanation that the statement could represent a commitment not to seek re-election. Jeong said Lee had not clearly addressed whether constitutional amendments could permit re-election and urged the president to state directly that he would not seek re-election and would face trial.