Kim Namkook, the Presidential Office's Digital Communication Secretary, who was put on trial for allegedly filing a false asset report to the National Assembly in order to conceal his ownership of virtual assets (cryptocurrency), was acquitted again in the appellate court.
On the 21st, the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Appellate Division 3-1 (Presiding Judges Lim Sunji, Cho Gyuseol, and Yoo Hwanwoo) dismissed the prosecutor's appeal and upheld the original verdict for Secretary Kim, who was indicted on charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.
Secretary Kim was brought to trial in August last year on charges of obstructing the National Assembly's Public Official Ethics Committee's review of asset changes. He was accused of transferring part of his cryptocurrency deposit to a bank account to match the total amount of his assets before filing his asset report as a lawmaker in 2021 and 2022, and then converting the remaining deposit into cryptocurrency.
Previously, in February, the first trial court ruled that at the time of Secretary Kim's asset report, virtual assets were not subject to registration, making it difficult to conclude that there was a reporting obligation. The court also stated that it was not easy to see that the authority of the Public Official Ethics Committee had been obstructed, and therefore found him not guilty.
The prosecution appealed, arguing that Secretary Kim actively manipulated and submitted evidence by converting the deposit in his virtual asset account, which was subject to asset registration, into cryptocurrency.
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