Wemade Employee Suspected of Legislative Lobbying...Confirmed Visits to '8 Lawmakers' Offices from Both Parties'

Wemade Staff Visit Female Lawmaker
Purpose of Visit Unconfirmed
Some Lawmakers Explain "Heard Staff Circumstances After WEMIX Delisting"

Regarding the allegations of legislative lobbying involving independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, the National Assembly Secretariat disclosed the entry records of a Wemade employee to the National Assembly. According to the Secretariat, the employee visited the offices of eight lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties a total of 14 times.

Lee Kwang-jae, Secretary General of the National Assembly, revealed the Wemade employee's entry details at a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office that morning. According to the entry records released by the Secretariat, the Wemade employee visited the offices of People Power Party lawmakers Yoon Chang-hyun, Jeong Hee-yong, and Heo Eun-ah, as well as Democratic Party lawmakers Yang Jeong-suk, Kim Han-gyu, Kim Jong-min, Oh Ki-hyung, and Kim Seong-joo from September 2020 until last April.

Kwang-jae Lee, Secretary General of the National Assembly Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the purpose of the visits, Secretary General Lee stated, "It is impossible to verify the circumstances of the visits," adding, "Since these are simple entry records, it is unclear whether the employee met with the lawmaker, a secretary, or merely borrowed the name." He further explained, "Usually, when a visit occurs, the office staff is contacted to confirm if a meeting was scheduled with the visitor, but sometimes the visitor may go to a different office, so verification is not possible."

On the disclosure, Lee said, "Recently, there have been multiple requests from lawmakers of both parties and various media outlets to disclose Wemade's National Assembly entry records," adding, "When two fundamental rights?the public's right to know and personal privacy?conflict, overcoming this requires disclosure of entry records based on the resolution of the National Assembly Steering Committee. At the committee meeting held yesterday, the lawmakers decided to approve the submission of the entry records." He also mentioned that the press conference was held following an agreement among the floor leaders of both parties.

Earlier, the National Assembly Steering Committee had resolved in a plenary session to disclose the entry records of the Wemade employee.

Wemade is the issuer involved in the approximately 6 billion KRW cryptocurrency controversy linked to lawmaker Kim, and there have been suspicions in political circles that Wemade may have engaged in legislative lobbying targeting Kim and other politicians.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Han-gyu stated via text notice regarding the Wemade employee's visit, "After WEMIX was delisted (on December 8 last year), the Wemade side, which issued WEMIX, visited our office to explain the circumstances and met with our aides," adding, "Since WEMIX was already delisted, there were no proposals or economic benefits offered by Wemade beyond the explanation. Neither I nor any of my aides have invested in WEMIX."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Jong-min also explained, "A former aide who worked with me received a request for a meeting with Wemade representatives concerning issues under the jurisdiction of the Political Affairs Committee and held a meeting with Wemade," adding, "Following the policy to end support for WEMIX trading last November, Wemade visited the offices of many lawmakers from related standing committees across both parties to explain the aforementioned matters. This is entirely unrelated to the legislative lobbying allegations mentioned in the media. Neither I nor any of my office staff have invested in WEMIX or other virtual assets."

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