'99 Billion Coin Concealment' Allegation: Kim Nam-kook Acquitted in First Trial

Kim Nam-kook, a former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was brought to trial on charges of falsely reporting his assets to conceal his substantial holdings of virtual assets (coins), was acquitted in the first trial.

Judge Jeong Woo-yong of the Seoul Southern District Court ruled on the 10th that the charges against former lawmaker Kim for obstruction of official duties by deception were not proven, thus delivering the verdict.

The court stated, "According to the Public Official Ethics Act at the time, virtual assets were not considered registered assets," and judged that "it is difficult to see that the defendant had an obligation to register the said assets."

Furthermore, the court explained, "While there may be parts of the asset report by the defendant that are inadequate or inaccurate, it is not easy to conclude that the National Assembly's Public Official Ethics Committee's authority to review was obstructed by deception."

In response to questions from the press about the court's ruling, former lawmaker Kim expressed that the prosecution's indictment was unjust and emphasized the need for prosecutorial reform.

Former lawmaker Kim explained, "There are 15 million coin investors in Korea, more than stock investors," and stated, "Coin investment is a legitimate economic activity no different from stock investment."

He further argued, "If my case is considered obstruction of official duties by deception, then the 30 lawmakers who invested together should all be charged with the same," and claimed, "It was an unjust political target indictment, given that there was no investigation or indictment of lawmakers who concealed their assets even after the law was amended to include coins as reportable assets."

Former lawmaker Kim was indicted last August for allegedly obstructing the National Assembly's Public Official Ethics Committee's review of asset change details by transferring part of his coin account deposits to a bank account to match the total asset amount before reporting his assets for 2021 and 2022, and then converting the remaining deposits back to coins.

The prosecution viewed that former lawmaker Kim committed the crime to conceal the fact that his coin deposits amounted to 9.9 billion won during the asset change report process in February 2022.

Lee Min-hyung, Hankyung.com journalist meaning@hankyung.com