The acquittal of Kim Namkook, Presidential Office Digital Communications Secretary, who was tried on charges of concealing his virtual asset (cryptocurrency) holdings and submitting a false asset report to the National Assembly, has been finalized.
According to legal sources, prosecutors did not file an appeal against the not-guilty verdict from the appellate court by the deadline of August 28, which was seven days after the ruling on August 21. In criminal cases, a notice of appeal or petition for final appeal must be submitted within seven days of the sentencing in order to seek a higher court's review.
In August, Secretary Kim was brought to trial on charges of obstructing the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee’s review of asset changes. He was accused of transferring part of his cryptocurrency account deposits into a bank account to match the total asset amount for his 2021 and 2022 National Assembly asset reports, then converting the remaining deposits into cryptocurrency.
On February 1, the court of first instance acquitted Secretary Kim, stating that at the time of the asset report, virtual assets were not subject to asset registration, making it difficult to conclude that there was a reporting obligation or that the authority of the Public Officials Ethics Committee had been obstructed.
On August 21, the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Appellate Division 3-1 (Presiding Judges Lim Sunji, Cho Gyuseol, and Yoo Hwanwoo) also dismissed the prosecutor’s appeal and upheld the original verdict.
The appellate court stated, "This situation resulted from a legislative gap in not designating virtual assets as registrable property. Even if Secretary Kim took advantage of this gap in a manner unbecoming of a lawmaker, it is not appropriate to address it by expanding the scope of criminal penalties."
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