You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 195

“As the controversy surrounding Anthrozol Alpha, once touted as Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s ambitious project, continues, Myunghwa Pharmaceutical held a press conference denying all allegations, as you just saw.”

“The evidence was revealed by Yoo Min-hyuk, the former head of the research team at Myunghwa Pharmaceutical and a key member of the Anthrozol Alpha development team.”

News9, which broadcast the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical press conference, began its segment featuring Choi Jong-hyun.

Standing behind the camera, anxiously watching the newsroom feed, Choi Jong-hyun wiped his already damp hands on his pants, visibly nervous.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

Choi Jong-hyun gave an awkward smile. “I’m a newspaper reporter, so I’ve never been in front of a camera before. I thought I handled the internet broadcast well enough that this wouldn’t be a big deal, but I don’t know why I’m so on edge. Attorney Cha, any tips?”

“I think it’s a little late for tips now.”

As it was Choi Jong-hyun’s turn to appear, a floor director (FD) wearing headphones approached him.

“Reporter Choi Jong-hyun! Please proceed as we discussed.”

Choi Jong-hyun, looking like livestock being led to slaughter, was guided by the FD to stand directly in front of the newsroom set.

And at the signal, he slowly walked to the seat prepared for him.

“Hello, this is Choi Jong-hyun, reporter.”

After making such a fuss about being nervous, he spoke fluently once he was seated in front of the camera.

His internet broadcasting experience clearly hadn’t deserted him.

The anchor introduced Choi Jong-hyun to the viewers, and the conversation soon began in earnest.

“Our News9 received the original audio recording provided by Yoo Min-hyuk from reporter Choi Jong-hyun, and commissioned a voiceprint analysis to determine its authenticity.”

At anchor Jin Hye-kyung’s words, the news screen changed.

The screen showed the interior of an acoustics professor’s laboratory at a national university.

Voiceprint analysis is based on the principle that, like fingerprints, voices possess unique graphical patterns.

Back in 2018, when I lived before, the reliability of voiceprint analysis as legal evidence was a subject of debate.

I’m not an expert, so I can’t contribute to that discussion, but my reason for choosing this method now is simple.

It’s 2010 now, and that controversy doesn’t exist yet.

If I, as a legal professional, am questioned about the ethics of exploiting this difference in perception, I honestly have no defense.

But I already know the truth, and this is about revealing it.

In the world I live in now, is there any reason not to use methods that don’t present legal problems?

[This graph displays the voiceprint of CEO Kim Hyung-joong from the press conference held during Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s stock listing. The graph below shows the voiceprint from the audio file provided by Yoo Min-hyuk.]

As the reporter’s explanation concluded, the screen showed the acoustics professor overlaying the two graphs.

[Based on our analysis, we can confirm that these two voiceprints belong to the same individual.]

After the professor’s calm explanation, the screen returned to the newsroom.

A discussion ensued, emphasizing that the press conference held by Myunghwa Pharmaceutical that morning contained falsehoods. This segment continued for quite a while.

Choi Jong-hyun reiterated the numerous lies they had been telling, and the News9 team presented separate graphic data on the screen for easy comprehension.

“Myunghwa Pharmaceutical not only stalked us while we were receiving evidence from Yoo Min-hyuk, but they also attempted to steal the evidence itself.”

“Tried to steal the evidence? That’s quite shocking.”

“Yes, it is. It defies common sense. If the evidence was fabricated, and if Myunghwa Pharmaceutical was so confident in their claims, why would they resort to such measures?”

“I see.”

“Contrary to Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s assertions, we have demonstrated through voiceprint analysis that the audio recording is authentic. Therefore, can we truly believe their claim that they requested another clinical trial from a US research institution and obtained results confirming Hyizolam’s efficacy? They offered Yoo Min-hyuk one million dollars to manipulate clinical data, implying they had already allocated that sum. Isn’t it plausible that these ‘successful’ clinical results were obtained in exchange for that one million dollars? It’s not just our investigation team that suspects this.”

“That’s right. Also, CEO Kim Hyung-joong’s comments regarding the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety [MFDS; the South Korean equivalent of the FDA] were significant. What are your thoughts on that?”

“One lie has already been exposed. Therefore, it’s time to definitively determine the truthfulness of the remaining two claims as well. Shouldn’t a national institution step in? Even if they initially dismissed it as mere suspicion and internet rumors, much has now been revealed. The likelihood of Myunghwa Pharmaceutical engaging in illegal activities has increased, as has the probability that Anthrozol Alpha is a dangerous drug.”

“Are you advocating for a thorough and impartial investigation at the national level?”

“That’s correct.”

Before we knew it, our allotted time was up.

Choi Jong-hyun exchanged greetings with the two anchors with a composed expression, and as soon as he was off-camera, he rushed towards me.

“Ha, I didn’t tremble, did I?”

“You didn’t tremble. You did great.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

As he placed his hand on his chest and relaxed, the two anchors concluded the segment with comments on the Myunghwa Pharmaceutical case.

Of course, the influence of Wooshin Group, a powerful conglomerate that dominates Korea, would also be a factor at News9.

That’s why Jin Hye-kyung had been interested in this case for a long time but was only able to broadcast it now.

That also suggests that the odds have shifted in our favor to some extent.

The fact that anchor Jin Hye-kyung asked me to appear yesterday also implied that Anthrozol Alpha’s fate was sealed.

After the News9 broadcast, the internet erupted.

This was because it was revealed that Myunghwa Pharmaceutical had lied once again.

Now, people were saying that they couldn’t trust anything Myunghwa Pharmaceutical said.

Even if Anthrozol Alpha was ultimately safe, there were calls to boycott drugs manufactured by companies that repeatedly lied.

The next morning, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced an emergency briefing, which was held that afternoon.

[Our Ministry of Food and Drug Safety unequivocally states that there were no illegal activities involved in the approval of Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s Anthrozol Alpha.

Generally, drug approval involves a committee formation and multiple meetings. This process was also applied to Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s Anthrozol Alpha.

Our Ministry of Food and Drug Safety launched an internal investigation from the moment the safety issue of Anthrozol Alpha first emerged, and as a result, confirmed that there were no irregularities.

Our Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also expresses serious concerns regarding CEO Kim Hyung-joong of Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s statement in the audio file that ‘the story with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was over.’

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will continue to do its utmost to promote the health of the people.]

The announcement from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety demonstrated a strong desire to distance itself from the matter.

If I hadn’t experienced my previous life, I might have believed that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety was genuinely unlucky and victimized by Myunghwa Pharmaceutical’s deception.

That’s how strongly I would have felt the injustice.

“I succeeded in escalating the incident, but it might be difficult to uncover the truth,” Kim Chan-young said, looking at the news screen.

I crossed my arms and gazed at the empty studio.

Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun had been running around until this morning, mobilizing all their contacts to somehow expose the truth, and had finally collapsed in their lodgings.

I couldn’t let their hard work be in vain.

I turned to Kim Chan-young, lowering the window blinds to block the sunlight.

“It won’t be difficult.”

“Why?”

“Because now I’m going to pit Myunghwa Pharmaceutical and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety against each other.”

“……Is that possible? They’re on the same side.”

“As you know, there’s less than a year left until the next presidential election.”

It’s July now.

And the next presidential election is scheduled for February next year.

With less than seven months remaining, the current ruling party, the Minwoo Party, is aiming to retain power.

The current head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is a political appointee [a person appointed to a government position based on political considerations rather than professional qualifications].

In my previous life, after serving as the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, he formally joined the Minwoo Party, received a nomination, and even ran for National Assembly in the Minwoo Party’s stronghold.

In the current situation, with the Anthrozol Alpha issue causing such a stir, if the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety becomes entangled in the scandal, the Minwoo Party will instantly lose public support.

If this had occurred in the early days of the administration, it might be different, but with the presidential election only half a year away, the stakes are much higher.

If the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety becomes too closely involved, it will immediately cut ties with Myunghwa Pharmaceutical.

“……That’s right. I can see that, actually.”

Kim Chan-young nodded, carefully considering it as if he hadn’t thought of it before.

“But could this problematic drug, Anthrozol Alpha, have even passed the committee if the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety hadn’t turned a blind eye?”

“Absolutely not.”

“These are the members of the committee that was formed just before Anthrozol Alpha.”

I said, placing the documents in front of Kim Chan-young.

“Um, except for one or two people, almost the same individuals were on the committee at that time.”

“That’s right. But Anthrozol Alpha is different.”

I placed the list of Anthrozol Alpha committee members on top of the previous document.

“……Are you suggesting that they deliberately stacked the committee with individuals who had a vested interest in Myunghwa Pharmaceutical?”

“Exactly.”

“It seems like you live 48 hours a day, not 24 hours.”

Kim Chan-young said, constantly exclaiming in amazement.

“How did you even think of reviewing these materials? No, when did you even have the time to do that?”

Of course, there was no time.

I was incredibly busy too.

This is what the lawyers handling the Anthrozol Alpha side effect lawsuit in my previous life discovered over several years.

I was simply remembering it.

“Can you check if there are any individuals among these who are connected to Myunghwa Pharmaceutical?”

“Like school ties, regional connections, or family relationships?”

“No, I’ll handle that.”

For things like that, you can get a sense of it to some extent just by digging into their background and following them around for a few days.

You can leave that to Tae-shik.

“Then what?”

“You need to check if anyone owns Myunghwa Pharmaceutical stock.”

“……If there’s someone on the committee who owns Myunghwa Pharmaceutical stock, wouldn’t this incident blow up even bigger?”

“Isn’t that what we wanted?”

I said, making eye contact with Kim Chan-young.

Kim Chan-young looked at me for a moment, then finally raised both hands as if he had surrendered.

“That’s right. That’s what I wanted. It’s the desperate heart of an illegitimate child who wants to give his jerk-like father a huge middle finger.”