Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won’s confirmation hearing got underway Tuesday as President Lee Jae Myung pressed ahead with appointing one of the chief architects of prosecution reform, a choice that could ease implementation of the government’s criminal justice overhaul while making it harder to build public confidence in the system that emerges.

Kim enters his Sept. 15 confirmation hearing under pressure over allegations that he improperly helped seek faster approval for a COVID-19 drug clinical trial, along with questions about other aspects of his record.

Police began investigatingthe clinical trial allegations last week, while Kim has described his contact