[2024 Asset Disclosure] Kim Nam-guk Holds 1.54 Billion KRW in Cryptocurrency Amid Controversy... Reported Assets Significantly Increased

Confirmed 20 Lawmakers Holding Virtual Assets for Themselves or Spouses
Most Under 5 Million KRW Except Kim Nam-guk and Kim Hong-gul

Twenty members of the National Assembly were reported to hold virtual assets either personally or through their families. Previously, lawmakers had reported their virtual asset holdings through bodies such as the ‘Ethics Review Advisory Committee,’ but this time, the virtual assets held by their families were also disclosed. The lawmaker holding the largest amount of virtual assets was independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, who was at the center of the coin controversy.

According to the ‘2024 Regular Asset Change Report of National Assembly Members’ released by the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee on the 28th, as of the end of last year, the total amount of virtual assets reported by 20 lawmakers was 1,841,830,000 KRW. Among them, the lawmaker holding the largest amount of virtual assets was Kim Nam-guk, who sparked the coin controversy last year.

Independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk is speaking at the Education Committee plenary session at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Lawmaker Kim Nam-guk reported virtual assets worth 1,546,440,000 KRW, including 994,900 Tornado (TORNADO) tokens, approximately 155,680 ApeNFT tokens, and approximately 456,930 Klaytn tokens. He invested in a total of 78 types of virtual assets, among which was NamgukToken, a token created to satirize the coin allegations against him. Previously, virtual assets were excluded from the public disclosure of public officials’ assets and thus omitted, but this time, they were mandatorily included in the report, resulting in an increase of 152,840,000 KRW in Kim’s total assets.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hong-gul reported virtual assets worth 28,100,000 KRW under his name, including Bitcoin. People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Kyung-jun reported virtual assets worth 3,600,000 KRW, including Ethereum, and independent lawmaker Hwang Bo-seung-hee reported holding virtual assets worth 2,180,000 KRW, including Dogecoin and Bitcoin. People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-se reported receiving 0.0004491 Bitcoin (approximately 25,000 KRW) as a free gift from a 2018 website sign-up event.

Previously, 11 lawmakers had voluntarily reported their past virtual asset holdings through the National Assembly’s voluntary reporting and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. Compared to then, newly confirmed lawmakers holding virtual assets in this asset report include People Power Party’s National Assembly Vice Speaker Jeong Woo-taek and Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Young-chan. However, the evaluated value of their virtual assets was close to zero.

There were also cases where family members’ virtual assets were newly confirmed. For example, People Power Party lawmaker Lee Myung-soo reported virtual assets worth 193,830,000 KRW held by his spouse and eldest son. Previously, People Power Party lawmaker Lee Yang-su, who voluntarily reported virtual assets, disclosed holdings worth 28,000 KRW for himself and 24,720,000 KRW for his eldest son. Reform New Party lawmaker Jo Eung-cheon (29,200,000 KRW), Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hoe-jae (5,530,000 KRW), and Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Young-dae (5,040,000 KRW) also reported virtual assets held by their families.

Additionally, Democratic Party lawmakers Kang Jun-hyun, Kim Su-heung, Seol Hoon of the New Future Party, People Power Party lawmaker Seo Il-jun, Democratic Party lawmaker So Byung-hoon, and Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yong-seon reported virtual assets held by their spouses or children, but the amounts were mostly below 1,000,000 KRW.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi stated that he personally, and Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Gae-ho’s second son, had once held virtual assets but sold them all, so as of the end of last year, their holdings were zero KRW.