Tuesday, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) exhorted former opposition lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk to leave politics irrevocably over his dubious cryptocurrency transactions, accusing him of evading responsibility by leaving his party.
Kim left the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) earlier this week after it was revealed that he possesses a substantial quantity of coins, raising concerns about the source of the funds and whether the independent lawmaker had access to insider information.
The ruling party has demanded that the former opposition representative retire from politics.
Rep. Kim should quit politics permanently, not provisionally, said Rep. Lee Chul-gyu, secretary general of the PPP. In order to prevent Kim from returning to politics, he urged the DP to irrevocably expel him from the party.
The first-term lawmaker has come under fire after it was revealed he owned approximately 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth approximately 6 billion won (US$4.5 million), a significant amount inconsistent with his reputation for frugality.
The transactions were reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Financial Services Commission, which classified the withdrawals as suspicious and notified the prosecution.
Prosecutors raided two prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, on Monday as part of their investigation into Kim’s escalating suspicions.
Lee emphasized that Kim must fully cooperate with the investigation, as opposed to abandoning the party to avoid responsibility.
In addition, allegations surfaced that the youthful lawmaker traded cryptocurrency currencies while attending at least two meetings of the National Assembly’s judiciary committee in May and November of 2017.
Kim resigned from the DP without complying with the party’s request for comprehensive information on his transactions as part of the party’s own investigation into the allegations, according to the DP.
Rep. Kim Han-kyu, DP spokesman, told reporters, “We’ve requested Rep. Kim’s data and cooperation again, but have yet to receive a response.”
