Yoon Hee-sook: "Kim Nam-guk, who buried his soul in coins, should resign from his parliamentary seat"

"People Like This Should Not Be in Public Office"

Former lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook raised her voice, saying that Kim Nam-guk, who left the Democratic Party of Korea amid suspicions of billions of won in cryptocurrency, "should naturally resign."

On the 19th, Yoon said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "From what has come out so far, this person seems to have buried his soul in the coin market," expressing this view.

He added, "This person’s soul is in the coin market that operates 24 hours a day, and from what has been revealed so far, he has been coming to Yeouido almost as a part-time job."

He also pointed out the conflict of interest issue. He said, "Usually, even ordinary people recuse themselves from matters related to themselves. 'I will not participate in this decision due to such and such circumstances'?this is the usual ethics of people working in companies," adding, "For lawmakers and politicians who make laws and pledges to lack that level of ethical awareness, I believe such people should not hold public office."

Yoon attracted attention by resigning from his parliamentary seat when allegations about his father's farmland surfaced. The ruling party is also comparing the responses of former lawmaker Yoon and Kim Nam-guk.

Regarding his resignation at the time, Yoon said, "I might have done it because I was a political novice, but ahead of the presidential election, I thought our people wanted to see someone take responsibility. I thought that was the way to give hope to the people," adding, "Real estate was such a big issue, so I thought that was my way to contribute to politics."

He continued, "I realized the exact meaning of my actions the next morning," and added, "I realized from the newspapers the next day that whenever a politician acts in a way that does not meet the people's expectations, I would be summoned."

Yoon said, "In fact, I took excessive responsibility in the political atmosphere at the time. I think I gave hope to the people by showing an overly responsible attitude," and added, "This person (Kim Nam-guk) is not taking excessive responsibility; even if he resigns now, it is not excessive at all. I think such a person should not hold public office."

The Democratic Party filed a complaint against Kim with the Ethics Committee but has not taken active measures. Yoon criticized, "The Democratic Party’s response shows their attitude about how they want to be perceived by the people right now. They think there is no problem with Kim’s behavior. They do not show a firm stance that we will distance ourselves from such behavior in the future."

He also raised suspicions that other lawmakers within the Democratic Party might be involved in cryptocurrency bribery. He said, "Many people say it seems to be entangled with the party leader’s legal risks, and even if it is not the party leader’s own legal risk, he was so close to the leader that there seems to be a reason to protect him. This is a bit of a far-reaching statement, but we still do not know how many people inside are connected to bribery using cryptocurrency."