"Legislative Lobbying" vs "Never Met" Kim Nam-guk Incident: Jang Hyun-guk and Wi Jeong-hyun Speak Out Side by Side

Jang Hyun-guk, CEO of Wemade, is briefing during the on-site visit of the People Power Party's Coin Gate Investigation Team at Wemade headquarters in Pangyo, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 19th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's large holdings of the virtual asset 'Wemix' have sparked allegations of legislative lobbying by a gaming company, raised by Wi Jung-hyun, president of the Korea Game Society, and Jang Hyun-guk, CEO of Wemade, the issuer of Wemix, both of whom spoke out on the 19th.

Wi emphasized that the essence of the 'coin incident' surrounding Representative Kim is legislative lobbying for the legalization of P2E (Play to Earn) games, targeting Wemade. On the other hand, CEO Jang dismissed the lobbying allegations after meeting with a member of the People Power Party. Both sides remain firm in their claims, suggesting that the tense standoff is likely to continue.

Wi Jung-hyun Reiterates “The Essence of the Coin Incident is P2E Legislative Lobbying”

On the 19th, Wi held an emergency forum titled 'Wemix Coingate: Seeking Causes and Alternatives' at the Irum Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu. He questioned, “Is the ‘kimchi coin’ Wemix, which holds a global share of only 0.01%, really different from Terra and Luna, which vanished overnight?” and sharply criticized Wemade by asking, “Is Wemade not a gaming company but rather a coin and casino company?”

Earlier, Wi claimed, “There have been rampant rumors for several years that P2E companies, associations, and groups have been lobbying the National Assembly.” As the legislative lobbying allegations spread, Wemade filed a defamation complaint against Wi with the police on the 17th and hinted at the possibility of additional civil lawsuits.

When asked if he had evidence regarding the lobbying allegations, he replied, “There are numerous reports from people around me who have actually seen and heard about the lobbying,” adding, “It will be clearly proven through prosecution investigations that I am right.”

He further emphasized, “The essence is not Representative Kim Nam-guk or the coin itself, but the legislative lobbying by the P2E industry,” and reiterated, “A full investigation should be conducted into whether lawmakers and their aides from both ruling and opposition parties have invested in Wemix.”

On the morning of the 19th, at the Irum Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Wi Jeong-hyun, president of the Korea Game Society, is giving a keynote presentation at the forum titled "Wemix Coin Gate: Exploring Causes and Alternatives," hosted by the Korea Game Society.

Jang Hyun-guk: “Coin Allegations Are Not All True”

At the same time, on the other side, CEO Jang strongly denied the legislative lobbying allegations. During a site visit by the People Power Party’s Coin Gate Investigation Team at Wemade’s headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, he stated, “I have never met Representative Kim Nam-guk,” and argued, “It is practically impossible to use airdrops (free distributions) as a means to give coins to specific individuals.”

Wemade is at the center of this ‘coin incident.’ Questions have been raised about the source of funds used by Representative Kim to purchase coins, with suspicions that Wemade may have delivered Wemix to him through methods such as airdrops or private sales (pre-listing sales).

In response to People Power Party lawmaker Park Hyung-soo’s question about whether lobbying was conducted in the National Assembly to pass the P2E bill, CEO Jang said, “I did inform them that domestic game laws were contradictory,” but added, “I have never met any lawmakers, and it should be possible to find out who did at that time.”

Regarding People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Chang-hyun’s inquiry about whether he was informed of abnormal Wemix transactions while serving as an inside director at Bithumb, Jang firmly denied it, saying, “I was not informed at all.”

Lawmaker Yoon pointed out Wemade’s 2021 investment in Bithumb’s largest shareholder, Bident. He asked, “Wemade invested 100 billion won by purchasing Bident’s bonds with warrants (BW) and convertible bonds (CB), and became an inside director at Bithumb. Given this, you must have known a lot of information. Were you ever briefed on Representative Kim’s investment in Wemix?”

Jang responded, “I had no knowledge of internal transactions at Bithumb,” and “I was never informed of any abnormal transactions at board meetings.” He also explained the investment in Bident, saying, “We invested because we judged the exchange to be a future-oriented industry. Although there were concerns about conflicts of interest raised by the media at the time, the Financial Services Commission said there was no problem.”

After a closed-door meeting, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sung-won told reporters, “During his closing remarks, CEO Jang expressed frustration over Representative Kim’s refusal to disclose transaction details,” adding, “Providing all transaction details with the exchange is seen as the starting point to resolving the Coin Gate issue.”

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