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Policy
Election 2024

South Korea Probes Crypto Exchanges Upbit, Bithumb on Ex-Lawmaker's Transfers

Lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk resigned from the main opposition party after his crypto transfers incited controversy.

By CoinDesk Staff
AccessTimeIconJul 19, 2023 at 9:00 p.m. UTC
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The National Assembly Proceeding Hall at Seoul in the Republic of Korea. The South Korean capitol building serves as the location of the legislative branch of the South Korean national government
The National Assembly Proceeding Hall at Seoul in the Republic of Korea. The South Korean capitol building serves as the location of the legislative branch of the South Korean national government

South Korean prosecutors searched accounts at major exchanges Upbit and Bithumb, relating to the transfers made by former lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk on Monday.

Messaging app Kakao was also included in the search due to Kim using its Klip cryptocurrency wallet, according to CoinDesk Korea.

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    • Since last week, Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the Democratic Party of Korea has been embroiled in accusations of conflict of interest over cryptocurrency withdrawals he made in 2022.

    Kim also faces accusations that he was trading coins during meetings of the National Assembly's judiciary committee in May and November last year, a CoinDesk Korea report said. The lawmaker presented himself as a frugal politician while owning 800,000 WEMIX tokens, worth 6 billion won ($4.5 million) between January and February 2022.

    The ruling People Power Party said that it would launch an internal task force to investigate Kim's cryptocurrency transfers on Monday. Rep. Yun Chang-hyeon, who heads the special committee on digital assets will head the task force, along with Rep. Kim Sung-won.

    Kim resigned from the main opposition Democratic Party on Sunday.

    Edited by Noelle Acheson.

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