Criticism of Kim Nam-guk from the Ruling Party... Lee Jun-seok Says "Uga Uga to Core Supporters"

Controversy over Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's '6 billion won coin' is escalating. As ruling party figures such as Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and People Power Party lawmaker Ha Tae-kyung mention the need for 'social return' and a 'full investigation of coins' and criticize him, Kim defended himself by saying he is a "lifelong miser." However, there are also opinions that the criticisms directed at Kim should be carefully considered for their validity.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 8th, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo targeted Kim through his social media (SNS), saying, "If you promote youth politics but dream of making a fortune through coin trading, wouldn't it be better to quit being a lawmaker and instead join the money speculation front?" He added, "If you even took the lead in postponing taxation on that, isn't that an abuse of legislative power for protecting your own assets rather than exercising legislative authority?" He advised, "How about returning the 6 billion won in coins to society and taking a different path?"

Kim immediately rebutted Mayor Hong's remarks on SNS. He said, "I have never abused legislative power to protect my assets. Mayor Hong also co-sponsored the virtual asset tax deferral bill, and I only co-sponsored it because I felt the same legislative necessity."

Kim also responded to criticism accusing him of 'poor cosplay.' In another SNS post, he said, "I have lived as a miser all my life; are you saying I have been pretending for 40 years?" He added, "I have lived frugally according to habits ingrained since my student days, and I have tried to share the money I saved by being thrifty. I used glasses I bought in my second year of high school for 20 years, and even as a lawyer, I inherited my father's car and drove it up to 240,000 km." Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae, from the same party, also appeared on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' and defended Kim, saying, "Kim really wears worn-out sneakers and actually lives like that. He even eats at the National Assembly cafeteria with me for 3,800 won."

However, sharp criticism from ruling party figures continues unabated. Jang Ye-chan, the People Power Party's youngest supreme council member, wrote on SNS, "The reason the public, especially young people, are angry is because of the Democratic Party's duplicity and hypocrisy," and criticized, "Why does a wealthy person with 6 billion won in coins have to even take away poverty to use it for their own politics?"

Kim Byung-min, a supreme council member of the People Power Party, pointed out, "The WEMIX coin that Kim invested in was delisted last year, and investors suffered losses amounting to hundreds of billions of won after being expelled from cryptocurrency exchanges," adding, "It should be clearer whether a lawmaker knowledgeable about coins should focus solely on increasing their own assets or on establishing legal and institutional foundations to prevent such damages."

People Power Party lawmaker Heo Eun-ah said on YTN radio, "He put on makeup and put on a show while taking money from other people's pockets. Was it really necessary to go that far?" She criticized, "He owns coins worth tens of billions of won and did not disclose them, and as a result, he proposed a bill that delayed tax imposition on himself, so a conflict of interest controversy is inevitable."

Kim Jae-seop, the People Power Party Dobong Gap district committee chairman, referred to a written briefing Kim made a year ago as the spokesperson of the election campaign committee, saying, "Kim Nam-guk, who told Kim Eun-hye (People Power Party) to resign for accidentally omitting 1.6 billion won in assets, now what will he say about himself who 'intentionally' omitted 6 billion won in assets?"

Amid the flood of criticism against Kim, voices are also calling for restraint from making 'if not, then so' style allegations. Former leader Lee Jun-seok said on the morning of the same day on Suncheon KBS radio program 'Current Affairs Focus, Eastern Jeonnam,' "The coin allegations are scenarios conservatives think of, such as remittances to North Korea, but there is no verified connection with Kim, so shouldn't we rather block the spread in that direction?"

He also expressed concern on his SNS about the ruling party's 'conflict of interest' allegations, saying, "If you bite wrongly, you will be counterattacked." The coin tax deferral was initially proposed by People Power Party lawmakers and was a matter of bipartisan agreement. Former leader Lee said, "The issue war should surgically identify and carefully handle problematic points, but the current level is just pandering to the core supporters who don't know much about coin investments that they would dislike anyway, so the issue war is not progressing well," criticizing the ruling party.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.