Lee Jae-myung Orders Kim Nam-guk to Oversee Ethics Investigation into Virtual Asset Trading Allegations in Standing Committee (Update)

Kim Nam-guk "No confirmation of transaction suspicions in standing committee, under review"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, ordered an ethics investigation into his party member, Representative Kim Nam-guk, on the 12th. This was due to allegations raised in the media that Kim engaged in virtual asset transactions during his activities in the standing committee.

Kwon Chil-seung, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated in a notice that day, "Leader Lee has urgently ordered an ethics investigation regarding whether Representative Kim, as an elected public official and a party lawmaker, has damaged his dignity in relation to media reports that he traded cryptocurrencies during the National Assembly standing committee sessions." After it was revealed that Representative Kim holds a large amount of virtual assets, related suspicions have been spreading.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, in a meeting with reporters concerning the allegations, Representative Kim explained, "I am reviewing the transaction details, but confirmation has not been made yet." At that time, he said, "There is no money that fell from the sky or rolled in by chance, and if disclosed, everything will become transparent." He further explained, "If external funds had come in, cash would have had to enter in lump sums through ATMs or bank counters, but except for interest being distributed, there is nothing else."

Within the Democratic Party, voices calling for Representative Kim’s resignation have also emerged in relation to the allegations.

Park Sung-min, former Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, after a press conference with young politicians on the same day, said regarding the virtual asset allegations, "The public suspicion is growing as situations where his explanations do not match continue to occur," and pointed out, "If the contents reported by the media are true, I think he could even resign from his position as a lawmaker."

Former Supreme Council member Park added, "Not only do I think the response speed within the party to the inappropriate allegations is excessively slow, but I also feel the level of response is quite low," and stated, "For the party leadership to regain public trust, they must awaken and handle this controversy strictly and severely."

That morning, the party’s National University Students Committee also held a press conference demanding party reform. They said, "Representative Kim, who volunteered as a young politician, made an all-in investment in cryptocurrencies, causing many young people to feel deprived," and added, "We must eradicate the hypocritical behavior of emphasizing poverty in public while reaping huge capital gains behind the scenes."

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