A former South Korean legislator from the Democratic Party received a six-month prison term for deliberately withholding significant cryptocurrency holdings from his mandatory financial disclosures, in a case that has drawn fresh scrutiny to the transparency standards for public officials in one of Asia’s major economies.
The conviction, handed down by the Seoul Southern District Court in late October and confirmed by court officials on Wednesday, stems from charges that the onetime National Assembly member concealed nearly 10 billion won (approximately $6.8 million) in digital currency assets during 2021 and 2022. Prosecutors argued that he manipulated financial declarations by converting some of his virtual holdings into traditional bank deposits, enabling him to report only a fraction of his true wealth. The remainder of his crypto investments, according to the prosecution, remained off the books to obstruct a property review by the National Assembly’s ethics committee.
The lawmaker’s name, widely reported in local media as Kim Nam-guk, had previously been known for his involvement in the Democratic Party, one of South Korea’s two major political groups. Observers say the case has caused embarrassment for the party and placed a spotlight on the importance of improving regulatory oversight in an emerging digital economy that has captured the public’s attention and investment capital.