(LEAD) Panel recommends expulsion of lawmaker over cryptocurrency suspicions

▲ Rep. Kim Nam-kuk attends a plenary session at the National Assembly in Seoul on July 18, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) ethics committee-cryptocurrency scandal

(LEAD) Panel recommends expulsion of lawmaker over cryptocurrency suspicions

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SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- An advisory panel of the parliamentary ethics committee on Thursday recommended independent lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk be stripped of his parliamentary seat over dubious cryptocurrency holdings.

Yoo Jae-pung, the chair of the panel, announced the decision, which marks the most severe disciplinary measure that can be taken against a lawmaker accused of misconduct.

A preliminary investigation revealed Kim, formerly affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), conducted over 200 cryptocurrency trades while attending parliamentary committee meetings. The balance of cashable assets in his cryptocurrency wallets amounted to approximately 9.9 billion won (US$7.8 million) at one point in late 2021.

The first-term lawmaker has come under fire following revelations that he had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billion won, a significant amount inconsistent with his frugal image. This spurred suspicions about where the money came from and whether he used insider information.

Since the scandal surfaced, Kim has quit the DP and become an independent.

The advisory panel, consisting of outside experts, deliberates on the level of disciplinary measures against lawmakers referred to the ethics committee, and the panel's decision is usually endorsed by the committee.

The decision will then be put to a vote in a plenary session at the National Assembly.

In South Korea, a lawmaker is subject to four levels of punishments from the parliamentary ethics committee, ranging from a warning at the lowest to the maximum of expulsion from parliament.

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