Game Industry Lobby Rumors and Lee Jae-myung Responsibility Theory... Kim Nam-guk Coin Sparks 'Gate'-Level Controversy

The 'coin suspicion' surrounding Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, shows no signs of dying down and is instead intensifying. Reports have emerged that he traded coins while engaging in committee activities such as questioning at the confirmation hearing of Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon and inquiries into the Itaewon disaster, and there are also allegations of lobbying by the P2E (Play to earn) gaming industry. Within the ruling party, some have raised questions about the responsibility of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party leader.

Kim Dong-hwan, CEO of the cryptocurrency consulting company 'Wonderframe,' said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show', "The transaction history is too active for a member of the National Assembly," adding, "Looking at the times when transaction traces remain, most of the trading occurred at dawn, night, or late at night. So I strongly wonder how he could have carried out legislative activities while doing this."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim CEO's remarks came after reports surfaced that Kim Nam-guk traded coins not only during Minister Han's confirmation hearing but also during the Judiciary Committee meetings aimed at criticizing the poor response to the Itaewon disaster.

He said, "In the case of Representative Kim, according to his asset disclosure, his wealth was at most around 1 billion KRW, but if such a person suddenly sees their assets increase tenfold and 150 million KRW moves back and forth in a single day, it would be hard to put down the phone." He added, "I did not actually vote for Representative Kim, but if I had, and he was conducting legislative activities like this, I would dislike it."

Cheon Ha-ram, former chairman of the People Power Party's Suncheon Gap district, who predicted that Representative Kim might have traded coins even during committee activities and became a topic of discussion, pointed out on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' that "In the case of Representative Kim, the scale of investment was enormous, so I assumed it would have been difficult to focus on his main job. Now, this is not just an assumption; actual transaction records show that trading occurred during committee meetings, which is a very serious issue."

Additionally, reports have emerged that Representative Kim held not only WEMIX coins but also other P2E coins such as Mavrex, and given that Leader Lee mentioned deregulation of P2E during his presidential candidacy, allegations of lobbying have also been raised. WEMIX coin is a representative P2E coin.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Woong, a member of the People Power Party, mentioned on social media that WEMIX coin was delisted due to 'excessive circulation,' stating, "Why did Wemade excessively circulate WEMIX? If WEMIX was distributed for lobbying purposes, excessive circulation would be necessary." He explained, "If it was provided for lobbying, it would have been given in the form of a pre-sale or block deal, thus resulting in holding a large amount of WEMIX." This suggests that Representative Kim did not invest a large sum in so-called 'Kimchi coins' (a term referring to coins issued by domestic companies), but rather received them initially for lobbying purposes.

The Democratic Party has formed an internal fact-finding team to investigate the incident, but the ruling party's response is that this alone is insufficient. Jang Ye-chan, the youngest senior member of the People Power Party, said, "Since the term 'Coin Gate' is being used, I believe that after the total resignation of Leader Lee Jae-myung and his leadership, the Democratic Party should voluntarily request a prosecution investigation into the Coin Gate shadowing the party." He added, "This is a matter where the Lee Jae-myung leadership must completely relinquish their authority and demand a compulsory investigation related to Coin Gate by the prosecution or a third party institution."