Coin Gate Scandal Lawmaker ‘to Rejoin South Korea’s Biggest Political Party’
The lawmaker at the center of South Korea’s “Coin Gate” scandal is set to return to the Democratic Party, the National Assembly’s biggest political party.
Per iNews24, Kim Nam-guk is set to become a Democratic Party (DP) member again by “early May.”
Kim is currently a member of the Democratic Alliance for Democracy Party, a coalition of small parties with close links to the DP.
But the Democratic Alliance for Democracy “unanimously decided” to merge with the DP at a meeting held on April 22.
The move will give the DP a “large majority” in the Assembly, following a disastrous defeat for President Yoon Seok-yul’s People’s Power Party (PPP) in the April 10 General Election.
However, not everyone will be joyed to hear news of Kim’s return to the DP. Allegations that Kim sold cryptoassets while serving on a crypto regulations-making committee caused major controversy last year.
And subsequent investigations into Kim and other lawmakers have given rise to a seemingly endless flow of political bickering about MPs owning crypto.
The controversy Kim saw ostracised from the DP. He eventually left the party and joined the alliance, a group of smaller left-wing parties.
The alliance was formed ahead of the election and gained 14 seats in the National Assembly.
Kim stood as the incumbent candidate for the Ansan Danwon constituency and comfortably beat his PPP rival.
Kim received 51.32% of the vote, with PPP candidate Park Soon-ja gaining under 47%.
Yoon Young-deok, the co-chair of the Democratic Alliance, told reporters after the meeting:
“The Democratic Alliance has unanimously decided to merge with the Democratic Party. We hope to complete the merger process before May 3, the date of the DP floor leader election.”
Yoon Young-deok said that
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