Kim Nam-guk, the digital communications secretary at the presidential office, who is serving as a member of the National Assembly while holding virtual assets (coins) without declaring them as property, has been acquitted.
According to the legal community on the 1st, neither the prosecution nor Secretary Kim appealed the appellate court's ruling within seven days from the date of sentencing. Thus, the not guilty verdict from the second trial has been finalized.
While serving as a member of the National Assembly in 2021 and 2022, Secretary Kim transferred part of the balance from his coin account to a bank deposit account before registering his property in the public ethics system to match the total amount of his assets, then changed the remaining deposits into coins.
The prosecution viewed that Secretary Kim committed a crime to hide the fact that the coin deposits amounted to 9.9 billion won during the report of asset changes for the previous year in February 2022. They believed he obstructed the property change review process of the Public Service Ethics Committee and indicted him in August last year for obstructing official duties by fraud. The prosecution sought a six-month prison sentence in both the first and second trials.
The first trial court stated that the coins were not subject to registration under the Public Service Ethics Act at the time of the incident, and it was difficult to conclude that Secretary Kim had an obligation to declare the coins, thus acquitting him.
The appellate court, the Southern District Court of Seoul's Criminal Appeal Division 3-1 (Chief Judge Lim Sun-ji, Judges Jo Gyu-seol and Yoo Hwan-woo), also dismissed the appeal on the 21st and upheld the not guilty ruling from the first trial.
The court noted, 'It is not desirable for a member of the National Assembly to exploit legislative loopholes,' but added, 'It does not appear that he used hierarchies to obstruct the Public Service Ethics Committee's review of asset changes.'
After the ruling, Secretary Kim met with reporters and said, 'This is a politically motivated prosecution that clearly contradicts the Supreme Court's precedent and constitutional textbook content,' emphasizing that 'prosecutorial authority is not a sword handed over to arbitrarily aim at someone.'
Due to the controversy surrounding Secretary Kim's coins, starting from December 14, 2023, coins have been included as property subject to registration for public officials. The current status of public officials' property registration published in the official gazette reveals how much of which coin senior officials possess.