You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 197

About a week had passed since the broadcast exposing the direct and indirect ties between the majority of the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) committee members and Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals.

“Lawyer Cha, you have a call?”

I was having lunch with the staff at the office when I checked my phone at Kang Min-jae’s words.

A call was coming in from an unknown number.

I put down my spoon and went outside the restaurant.

“This is Cha Ju-han.”

-Oh, Cha Pro. It’s me.

“Excuse me, who is this?”

-Haha, you wound me. It’s Park Young-gi, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.

“Ah, Deputy Chief. How have you been? I didn’t recognize the number because it wasn’t saved.”

Park Young-gi, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.

I had run into him before when I went to the Western District Prosecutors’ Office for the Jo Bong-joon defamation case.

He had said back then that we should grab a cup of tea soon, so is that why he’s calling?

But now that the Jo Bong-joon case has been handed over to the prosecution, it wouldn’t look good for a lawyer to meet with the Deputy Chief Prosecutor privately.

-Of course, I’ve been well. How have you been, Cha Pro?

“I’m always the same.”

-Is that so?

“But what brings you to call me like this?”

-I called to give Cha Pro some good news.

“Good news?”

There aren’t many pieces of good news that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-gi could give me.

Either he decided to drop the Jo Bong-joon case, or…

-We’ve decided to start an investigation into Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals. It fell to our side.

This is the best news I could get from him.

“Ah, is that so.”

-Is it good news? Why are you so indifferent?

“It is good news. Our client has been working hard to publicize the case, and it’s finally paying off. I’m so relieved.”

-To be exact, we’ll be investigating Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, and the KFDA will probably be investigated as well, but nothing has been decided about that yet. They’ll probably create a special task force. It’s just a rumor for now. It seems nothing has been decided regarding the KFDA.

In general, in such cases, the KFDA often conducts its own investigation.

The KFDA is also a state institution, so their relationships are intertwined.

If it is determined that the KFDA’s internal investigation cannot be trusted and an external agency needs to investigate, there is a high probability that a special task force will be created, as Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-gi said.

If the prosecution were to investigate, the KFDA, an agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, would be investigated by the Ministry of Justice.

“But the revocation of the permit hasn’t been announced yet, so is an investigation possible?”

-Ah, the KFDA will change it to a permit suspension decision.

“But the KFDA has already announced once that there were no problems as a result of the internal investigation. Even if the KFDA decides to suspend the permit and the prosecution investigates, I’m concerned that the order is a bit off.”

-That’s true, but public opinion is so bad right now that they made the decision to investigate first. What time is it now?

“It’s almost one o’clock.”

-There will be an announcement at one o’clock, so turn on the news. Oh, and Cha Pro, are you free today?

“Yes, I am.”

-Then come to the office. I need to talk to you in detail, and I have something important to say.

“Okay. What time should I come by?”

-Come whenever you’re free, after you’ve taken care of your business.

“Then I’ll be there by 3 o’clock.”

-Okay. See you later.

After texting the news I just heard to the people who helped with this matter, I went back to the restaurant.

I went back to the table where Manager Oh and Kang Min-jae were sitting, but they were focused on the television without noticing I had returned.

[The KFDA has announced that it will temporarily suspend the permit for Antrozol Alpha developed by Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, conduct an on-site inspection of Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals’ clinical trial process, and hold a hearing. In response, the prosecution also announced that it would investigate CEO Kim Hyung-joong and other executives and employees regarding the concealment of side effects of Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals’ Antrozol Alpha…]

I glanced at my watch and saw that it was 1 o’clock.

The news with the same content that the Deputy Chief Prosecutor had told me in advance was playing on television.

“Lawyer!”

Kang Min-jae turned to me and shouted in a bright voice.

“Does this mean it’s over? Is the release of Antrozol Alpha blocked now?”

“You can say that.”

“Then our client will be found not guilty. Rather, they should be given an award for their great contribution. Wow, I’m so relieved. I’m so relieved.”

Kang Min-jae stood up and shouted as if he was about to dance.

I am also very happy, but I don’t think it’s time to let my guard down yet.

Once the situation calms down, they may gloss over the investigation results and say that there was nothing wrong with Antrozol Alpha, change the name of the drug, and release it again.

I have to keep a close watch.

“It seems the Western District Prosecutors’ Office is in charge of the case.”

I nodded at Manager Oh’s words.

“The call just now was from Park Young-gi, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.”

“Deputy Chief Park? Why would he call the lawyer at this timing…”

“He told me about the KFDA’s decision and the start of the prosecution’s investigation. And he said he had something important to say and told me to come to the office for a while.”

“Hmm…”

Manager Oh made a noise with a slightly worried expression.

“Judging from his bright voice, it’s probably not bad news.”

“Still, you should be careful. Maybe the prosecution is trying to suck your blood.”

Even so, it doesn’t matter.

My ultimate goal is to prevent Antrozol Alpha from being distributed anyway.

And I can’t just let them suck my blood.

I have to get a good price.

* * *

“Cha Pro, welcome.”

When I entered his office, he was waiting with the tea water heated up.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yes, please sit down.”

As I sat on the sofa, he poured hot water into the cup in front of me.

“Did you see the news?”

“Yes, I saw it right after I hung up the phone.”

“The case you took on, Jo Bong-joon’s case, will also be dismissed.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. It’s only natural given the situation. You and Jo Bong-joon created this. You saved yourselves.”

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor laughed heartily and put a few tea leaves in my cup.

“When a good scent starts to rise, you can drink it then.”

“Thank you.”

“You must have a lot of questions for me, but you’re not saying anything.”

I smiled silently.

“My question is naturally an extension of the story I was talking about on the phone earlier. The KFDA is not in a position to investigate the case now. Isn’t the KFDA a party to the case? However, the announcement was made that the KFDA would conduct its own on-site inspection and hold a hearing… I find this a bit strange.”

“The KFDA’s fault hasn’t been clearly revealed yet, so we can’t stop them from doing their job.”

He sipped the tea and answered slowly.

“The committee members are related to Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, but the committee is appointed or commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Committee and the KFDA Commissioner. As far as I know, everyone appointed by the KFDA Commissioner other than the three recommended by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Committee had direct or indirect ties to Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals. I fully understand that this may not be enough to justify it, but… I am still negative about the KFDA conducting on-site inspections and hearings.”

“I understand what you’re saying. But that’s how things are. You know.”

“……”

“The Chief Prosecutor says this: If we conduct an investigation this time, the fact that Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals bribed the committee members will be revealed, as you said. No matter how much they are tied by blood, regionalism, and school ties, something must have been exchanged.”

“Yes.”

“Then the KFDA’s problem will naturally come to the fore. If we announce that, the KFDA will become a party to the case and be subject to investigation. Then they will have no choice but to drop out before the on-site inspection or hearing even begins. Then, of course, a special task force will be formed and take over that role, as I said earlier.”

I nodded slowly at the Deputy Chief Prosecutor’s words.

It seems that this decision was made because of the KFDA’s position right now, which I fully understand.

After all, it is a state institution, so isn’t it a psychology to take care of its prestige until the end?

From our point of view, we want to question whether we can ever purify a rotten institution if we take all of that into account, but we cannot ignore such power relations while handling such cases.

“So the prosecution needs to catch the KFDA’s problem as soon as possible.”

It seems like he’s about to get to the point now.

The reason why Park Young-gi called me to the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.

“I heard that you made a great contribution to this case. I heard that you personally persuaded Yoo Min-hyuk.”

When I didn’t answer, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-gi continued.

“I also heard that you were wiretapped by Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals. I found that a bit strange.”

“Why were you curious about that?”

“If Jo Bong-joon is the main player, they should have wiretapped Jo Bong-joon, but the target of the wiretapping was you.”

I smiled faintly.

Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, of course, is a subsidiary of Wooshin, so they would have realized that I was the main player in this case from the time I took on Jo Bong-joon’s defense.

But the main players I put forward on the surface were Jo Bong-joon and Choi Jong-hyun.

This was to avoid the forced public opinion that I was retaliating with personal feelings against Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals.

But if the victory has completely shifted to this side, I will be able to get the results I want even if there is public opinion criticizing the retaliation.

When I first started my law firm, I had the idea that I had to create a good image no matter what, but I know best that it is impossible for someone so prominent to have no enemies.

Rather, it might not be bad to change my image to a Wooshin specialist lawyer this time.

Let’s hear more about it for now.

“I want you to help with this prosecution investigation.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I don’t know why, and my pride is a little hurt, but it seems you have better investigative skills than the prosecution. Haha. And you are more of an expert on this case than we are.”

He put down his pride and showed his will to become the winner of the speed racing.

The desire to completely exclude the KFDA before it becomes the main subject of the investigation.

The biggest merit of joining hands with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-gi is that this greed does not stem from his desire for success.

But there is one thing that bothers me.

In my previous life, Park Young-gi was a truly selfless person.

But many conditions have changed in this life.

Just as a small butterfly’s wings can cause a typhoon, there is no way of knowing how those minor conditions have changed Park Young-gi.

And if this case is successfully concluded, it will surely be an opportunity for Park Young-gi to be promoted at the next personnel appointment.

Is he greedy for that?

What does he want?

Is it the desire of a prosecutor who truly wants to punish the misdeeds of Myunghwa Pharmaceuticals, or is it for his own advancement?

“I am willing to cooperate as long as the various conditions are met. But, I have one question.”

“Tell me.”

“…What do you think I have been doing to make this case so big?”

He smiled faintly at my question.

“What else could it be if not your sense of justice.”

[Lie]

Oh, dear.

I sighed inwardly as I saw the letters floating above Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Young-gi’s head.

He thinks I have other intentions.

I thought he thought of me as a very idealistic lawyer.

“…Then, I’m curious how you would take this investigation.”

“You’re talking very abstractly.”

“I was just curious.”

“I’m the same. What else could it be if not the realization of justice.”

[Lie]