Kim Hangyu, Democratic Party Floor Spokesperson, YTN Radio Interview
"Many Within the Party Agree That All Questions Must Be Examined"
Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, has been embroiled in controversy over holding a large amount of virtual assets (cryptocurrency), and as additional related suspicions continue, the Democratic Party has decided to form an investigative team to conduct a fact-finding investigation. Kim Han-gyu, the party's floor spokesperson, stated, "We will look into all parts that do not meet the public's expectations."
On the 11th, spokesperson Kim appeared on YTN Radio's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' and said, "Within the party, there are many opinions that we should basically look into all the questions that have come up without exception," adding, "Of course, we need to check whether there is any violation of current laws, and even if there is no legal violation, the party is supposed to review any actions that could be problematic under the party's constitution and regulations."
Regarding the formation of the fact-finding investigation team, spokesperson Kim said, "Senior Deputy Secretary-General Kim Byung-gi will serve as the head, and the team will be composed of various internal party experts as well as external experts," adding, "The party has not yet finalized or announced the specific members who will participate."
On the issue of whether there was a conflict of interest involving Representative Kim concerning the bill to postpone taxation on virtual assets, he said, "We need to look at the investment situation at that time to determine whether Kim Nam-guk's explanation is reasonable," and added, "It is a matter that should be examined from the perspective of whether there was a legal violation."
Regarding the conflict of interest controversy related to Kim Nam-guk, who served as the head of online communication during the last presidential election and planned and launched the 'Lee Jae-myung Fund' using non-fungible token (NFT) technology, he said, "At that time, candidate Yoon Seok-youl also held NFT-related events, and that was the social atmosphere then," adding, "Whether that directly constitutes a conflict of interest needs to be examined."
Regarding last year's prosecution's request for search warrants twice on Kim Nam-guk on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Act, which were dismissed by the court, he said, "If there were specific charges, the investigation would have proceeded further, but the fact that the warrants were not issued twice suggests it was more of a vague suspicion," and added, "I think the investigative authorities are not yet convinced that there was a violation of the Political Funds Act."
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