Priest from the Justice Implementation Priests' Group: "Those Without Desire, Cast Stones at Kim Nam-guk"

Priest Jiseongyong of the Clergy Reveals on Facebook
"Is It Wrong for Progressives to Make Money?" Defends Rep. Kim

Father Ji Seong-yong, a member of the Catholic Priests for Justice, recently came to the defense of Representative Kim Nam-guk, who left the Democratic Party of Korea. He also strongly criticized Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-gyu, who proposed a bill to include virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies in the property registration requirements for public officials, calling him an "X-man."

In a recent post on his Facebook, Father Ji stated, "Kim Nam-guk did not break the law," adding, "He simply invested his own money and is known to be a frugal person. This is being framed as a youth issue and hypocrisy, attempting to recover negative public opinion related to the presidential office’s nomination process, starting from the Tae Young-ho case and the humiliating diplomacy toward Japan."

He also said, "Coincidentally, the tall and handsome Kim Han-gyu, formerly of Kim & Chang, has proposed a virtual asset reporting bill," and questioned, "Is it strange? Is someone trying to sow discord by exploiting this gap?"

He added, "I suspect Kim Han-gyu might have been the X-man hiding behind the Blue House’s pro-Moon Jae-in faction’s armband."

Assemblyman Kim Nam-guk [Image source=Yonhap News]

He further emphasized, "Let anyone without desire cast a stone at Kim Nam-guk," and said, "Kim is neither a monk nor a priest. Is it wrong for progressives to make money? Kim Nam-guk, stay strong."

Earlier, Representative Kim Han-gyu had introduced a revision to the Public Officials Ethics Act on the 2nd, which includes virtual assets in the property registration requirements for public officials. Regarding the purpose of the bill, he explained in a radio interview on the 11th, "I created the bill to clarify things clearly to avoid misunderstandings later."

Regarding the timing of the bill’s introduction coinciding with the period of allegations against Representative Kim Nam-guk’s virtual assets, he emphasized, "Some people misunderstand that I included virtual assets in the property registration to find out something, but that is not true at all," adding, "I made the bill, and unexpectedly, the issue with Representative Kim Nam-guk arose."

Meanwhile, Representative Kim Nam-guk announced his sudden departure from the party on the 14th. This came nine days after media reports surfaced claiming he held up to 6 billion won worth of 'Wemix' coins, a type of cryptocurrency, sparking controversy.

He stated, "I thought I should not cause any harm to the party at such an important time," but also emphasized, "As an independent lawmaker, I will stand firm against unfair political attacks and reveal the truth."

Previously, Representative Kim had explained that "there was no illegal activity, and the property declaration was completed properly," but the controversy continued. The issue escalated into a conflict of interest suspicion as he co-sponsored an amendment to the Income Tax Act to postpone virtual asset income taxation by one year and was also reexamined for his involvement in planning the 'Lee Jae-myung Fund' using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) ahead of last February’s presidential election.

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