'9.9 Billion Coin Unreported' Former Lawmaker Kim Nam-guk Found Not Guilty, Prosecution Appeals

Prosecution Asserts: "False Asset Report is a Fact"

The prosecution appealed after former Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, who was tried for falsely reporting assets to the National Assembly, was acquitted in the first trial.

Former Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk is giving a statement after being acquitted in the first trial held on the 10th at the Seoul Southern District Court in Sinjeong-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the legal community on the 13th, the Financial Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Su-hong) submitted an appeal against former lawmaker Kim, who is accused of obstruction of official duties by deception, the day before.

The prosecution stated, "The court acknowledged all the facts related to the case in which former lawmaker Kim concealed approximately 9 billion KRW in deposits as virtual assets (coins) on the asset registration reference date of December 31, 2021, and falsely reported his total assets as 1.26 billion KRW, an increase of 80 million KRW compared to the previous year," adding, "Since the assets subject to reporting should be based on the status as of December 31, it was difficult to view that he obstructed the review duties of the responsible public officials, resulting in a not guilty verdict."

Earlier, Judge Jeong Woo-yong of the Criminal Division 9 of the Seoul Southern District Court ruled, "According to the Public Officials Ethics Act at that time, virtual assets are not registered assets," and "It is difficult to see that the defendant had an obligation to register such assets." The court also stated, "Although there are parts of the defendant's asset report that are insufficient or inaccurate, even if the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee failed to accurately grasp the actual total assets, it is not easy to consider that the review authority was obstructed by deception."

Former lawmaker Kim was indicted in August last year on charges of obstructing the review duties of the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee by transferring some of the coin account deposits to a bank deposit account to adjust the total assets before the 2021 and 2022 National Assembly asset reports, then converting the remaining deposits back into coins.