South Korean Assembly Member Under Fire for Alleged Crypto Insider Trading
South Korean lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk has found himself in hot water after being accused of performing suspicious crypto trades worth about KRW 6 billion ($4.5 million).
The politician is accused of withdrawing his crypto holdings from an exchange shortly before the country implemented the so-called crypto travel rule in March 2022, The Korea Times reported. The rule obliged owners of crypto assets to carry out real-name transactions. The unnamed exchange reported Kim’s transactions to the state-run Korea Financial Intelligence Unit which subsequently filed the case to South Korean prosecutors. The MP rejects the accusations, and claims that he had not cashed out most of his crypto holdings, but transferred them to a different exchange.
Kim is also defending himself by saying that he was not required to report his crypto holdings under the disclosure obligation of the country’s public service ethics act.
"I did not borrow and receive money from anyone at all (for the crypto trading)," the lawmaker declared. "I sold some of my stocks to use for the initial crypto investment. I also made transactions only through real-name accounts and I can transparently share all of the transaction records.
Kim is an MP for the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), South Korea’s s main opposition party. The DPK is the largest party in the National Assembly, the lower chamber of the country’s parliament, with 168 lawmakers, and it opposes the People Power Party (PPP) of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The PPP has blasted the opposition lawmaker as both parties are intensifying their rivalry ahead of South Korea’s forthcoming parliamentary election. The vote is expected to take place in April 2024.
"The public is shocked by his ambivalent
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