Kim Nam-guk, the South Korean lawmaker at the center of the nation’s “Coin Gate” scandal, is set to join the government of the newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
Lee won the election with a comfortable margin earlier this month. He has since begun assembling his cabinet after making a series of pro-business crypto and stablecoin-related manifesto pledges.
Kim Nam-guk: Key Ally to Take up Gov’t Position
TV Chosun reported that Kim, a long-time Lee ally, is the nominee for the post of Presidential Secretary for Digital Communication.
However, Kim will first have to overcome a sizable legal hurdle, as the Coin Gate controversy rumbles on.
Prosecutors originally hoped to try Kim on suspicion of insider trading. The lawmaker was believed to have sold cryptoassets while serving on a National Assembly committee that dealt with crypto-related policy.
However, the prosecution later decided to charge Kim with “obstructing officials in the course of their duties.” Prosecutors wanted Kim to serve a six-month jail term if found guilty.
Legal Challenges Remain
Officials alleged that Kim had made “false declarations” about his cryptoassets to the National Assembly’s Ethics Committee when submitting mandatory disclosure documents.
Kim was found not guilty of the charges at a branch of the Seoul Southern District Court in early February this year.
The District Court judge, Justice Jeong Woo-yong, said at the time that the prosecution’s case featured “no evidence” that Kim had committed a crime.
But the Prosecution Service thinks it has a strong enough case to try again. The case will be heard at the Southern District Court’s Appellate Division next month.
The first hearing will take place on July 17.
Kim Returning to Court in July
Prosecutors continue to insist that Kim failed to correctly declare approximately 9.9 billion won ($7.3 million) worth of crypto in the period 2021-2022.
However, Kim and his legal team argued that, while declaration laws have since changed (largely as a result of the Coin Gate controversy), at the time, he did nothing wrong.
Kim briefly left the Democratic Party shortly after the scandal broke. But he returned to the party under Lee’s leadership.
Multiple domestic media outlets, including Hankook Ilbo, have reported that Kim is part of a core seven-member group of Democratic Party allies. The group has “supported the President since 2017,” the newspaper wrote.
Their association dates back to the time when Lee made his first bid for the South Korean presidency.
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