The court has cleared former South Korean lawmaker Kim Nam-guk of all charges in the ‘CoinGate’ scandal, declaring him ‘not guilty’.
A Seoul Southern District Court has found former South Korean lawmaker Kim Nam-guk not guilty of all charges in his first trial, according to a report from local media News1. Authorities accused Kim of misreporting his assets to the National Assembly in an effort to conceal substantial profits he allegedly earned from cryptocurrency trading before upcoming crypto regulation changes. The controversy, widely known as the “Coin Gate” scandal, raised concerns over the ethical responsibilities of public officials in South Korea.
As a government official, Kim had access to insider information regarding an upcoming crypto bill that would require citizens to report their crypto holdings as part of their declared wealth. Prosecutors argued that Kim liquidated his crypto assets before the new law took effect, converted the funds into fiat currency, and transferred the money to a bank account reflecting his total wealth in crypto. They claimed this action gave him an unfair advantage and accused him of “obstructing officials from performing their duties” by avoiding proper asset disclosure in 2021 and 2022.
Court Clears Kim Nam-guk in Coin Gate Case
However, presiding Justice Jeong Woo-yong dismissed the allegations, stating that there was “no evidence of a crime” in Kim’s actions.The judge clarified that, at the time, the law did not require anyone to declare crypto assets, so Kim had no legal obligation to report his holdings. The ruling effectively clears Kim Nam-guk of all wrongdoing in the Coin Gate scandal, though the case has reignited discussions about the need for stricter financial disclosure laws for government officials in South Korea.
Although the court recognized discrepancies in Kim Nam-guk’s asset disclosures, the judge ruled that these inaccuracies did not obstruct official duties, as prosecutors had alleged.
While Justice Jeong Woo-yong acknowledged that some of the details Kim provided about his crypto holdings were “insufficient or inaccurate,” he stated that these inconsistencies did not meet the legal threshold for obstructing the National Assembly Ethics Committee’s work.
“Considering the circumstances recognized by the evidence investigated above, it is insufficient to view it as obstruction of official duties by hierarchy,” Jeong explained.
In December 2024, prosecutors filed charges against Kim Nam-guk, seeking a six-month jail sentence, arguing that he misled the National Assembly Ethics Board by failing to disclose his full wealth. According to court documents, Kim claimed his total assets were approximately 1.2 billion won ($825,526). However, prosecutors alleged that his actual crypto holdings at the time of the 2021 asset declaration process were significantly higher—amounting to 9.9 billion won (over $6.8 million). The court dismissed the charges despite the allegations, emphasizing that the law did not require declaring crypto assets at the time, which absolved Kim of any legal wrongdoing.
