Kim Nam-guk Missing for 11 Days, Returning Soon...? "Self-Reflection and Repentance Won't Take Long"

Speculation about the return of Representative Kim Nam-guk, who has been missing for 11 days after leaving the Democratic Party of Korea amid suspicions involving billions worth of coins, has emerged. This came through Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Min-seok, who has been providing detailed updates on Kim's whereabouts. The reason given is that Kim's office was not listed in the National Assembly Secretariat's disclosed records of Wemade's visits to the National Assembly, suggesting he is cleared of the 'Wemade lobbying suspicion.' However, experts pointed out that this alone does not mean the lobbying suspicion has disappeared.

On the 26th, Ahn said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "I don't think the time for reflection and remorse will take too long," adding, "He will probably return soon."

He said that after Wemade's National Assembly visit records were made public the previous day, he spoke with Representative Kim, who told him, "That's only natural. Haven't I said from the start? I have never met with anyone, including industry insiders." He repeated this to me several times," adding, "Nevertheless, since it was confirmed through the National Assembly Secretariat yesterday, his voice seemed a bit stronger yesterday."

Ahn predicts Kim's return because he believes Kim has been cleared of the 'Wemade lobbying suspicion' following the disclosure of Wemade's National Assembly visit records by the Secretariat. According to the Wemade National Assembly visit records released the previous day, Wemade visited the offices of People Power Party lawmakers Yoon Chang-hyun, Jung Hee-yong, and Heo Eun-ah, as well as Democratic Party lawmakers Yang Jeong-sook, Kim Han-gyu, Kim Jong-min, Oh Ki-hyung, and Kim Sung-joo from September 2020 to last April. Kim Nam-guk's office was not listed.

Ahn said, "The suspicion that Representative Kim received lobbying was proven false by the Wemade National Assembly visit records released yesterday," adding, "Various suspicions related to Kim's coins should be clarified through investigation. We just have to wait for that."

However, the absence of Kim Nam-guk's office in Wemade's National Assembly visit records does not necessarily mean there was no lobbying. Lee Jung-hyun, president of the Korea Game Society, who first raised suspicions about lobbying in the P2E (Play to Earn) gaming industry, responded to a listener's question on CBS Radio about the absence of Kim Nam-guk's office in the visit records, saying, "Kim probably doesn't need to lobby. He already holds WEMIX, so why would he lobby?"

This means that just because Kim Nam-guk's office was not recorded as visited, it cannot be concluded that Kim, who held a large amount of WEMIX coins, did not receive lobbying. He noted that a characteristic of the Wemade National Assembly visit records disclosed this time is that "(Those who are strongly opposed or strongly supportive) do not go at all, while those who can be persuaded or need to be persuaded are visited." He added, "Lawmakers like Ha Tae-kyung and Lee Sang-heon don't get visits because lobbying efforts are ineffective on them." Kim is considered to belong to the 'strongly supportive' group and thus was not visited.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "Looking at the list of visitors this time, there are some interesting features. They don't visit people who won't listen. For example, Lee Sang-heon of the Democratic Party, who proposed legislation regulating 'probability-based item draws,' was not visited," adding, "Also, they don't visit offices like Ha Tae-kyung of the People Power Party. They completely avoid people who won't listen. This was clearly shown."

The previous day, Representative Kim Woong also pointed out on his social media, "Logically, if illegal lobbying were to occur, it wouldn't happen by meeting in offices where visit records remain," adding, "If they say lobbying didn't happen because they didn't visit National Assembly offices, then lobbying would be impossible for those without offices. Lobbying directed at party leaders or high-ranking officials who are not lawmakers would be fundamentally impossible."