10 lawmakers omit reporting coin transactions and holdings

In a recent revelation, it has come to light that 10 out of the currently active members of the 21st National Assembly have violated the National Assembly Act by neglecting to report crucial details regarding their ownership and changes in virtual assets. Over the three-year period from May 30, 2020, marking the commencement of the 21st National Assembly term, to May 31 of the current year, 11 lawmakers engaged in buying and selling virtual assets. The cumulative value of these transactions among them amounted to 125.6 billion won. Notably, independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, who departed from the Democratic Party amid controversies surrounding substantial virtual asset speculation, was identified as having traded virtual assets worth 111.8 billion won. This figure represents close to 90% of the total transactions carried out by the 11 lawmakers. This led to an amendment of the National Assembly Act. The revised legislation now mandates the registration of virtual asset ownership status and detailed change information with the National Assembly Ethics Review Advisory Committee by the end of June.

On Friday, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission unveiled the outcomes of a comprehensive survey on virtual assets held by all members of the National Assembly and officially submitted it to the Speaker of the National Assembly and representatives from both political parties. According to the Commission's survey, 18 lawmakers, constituting approximately 6% of registered lawmakers, were found to have a history of possessing virtual assets during the specified period. Of these, 11 lawmakers had both purchase and sale records, with the cumulative amount of their purchases totaling 62.5 billion won and the cumulative amount from sales reaching 63.1 billion won. Rep. Kim accounted for a significant portion of these figures, with a total purchase amount of 55.5 billion won, equivalent to 89% of the overall purchases. Similarly, his total selling amount stood at 56.3 billion won, representing 89% of the total sales.

During a briefing at the Sejong Government Complex on the same day, the Commission announced, "Our investigation concentrated on confirm‎ing whether lawmakers accurately registered their virtual asset information to the National Assembly. It has been confirmed that there are 10 lawmakers who, despite discrepancies with voluntary self-reports or having ownership and transaction changes, failed to register them.”

Out of the 10 individuals who omitted to report, six failed to register transaction details concerning a virtual asset known as 'Paycoin (PCI).' They clarified to the Civil Rights Commission that they did not recognize Paycoin, described as an on-site payment method, as a virtual asset. Paycoin, issued by Danal, an integrated payment company, faced delisting from domestic virtual currency exchanges in March of this year after the Financial Services Commission had raised concerns about potential money laundering, citing the unknown whereabouts of 700 million coins. A virtual asset industry expert highlighted, "The suspicion of lobbying arises, given that numerous politicians were found to possess this particular cryptocurrency." The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced, “There is the necessity to delve deeper into how lawmakers acquired virtual assets and whether the entities involved were connected to their official responsibilities. However, we had difficulties due to limitations in our investigative rights.”

This announcement follows an investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, which, starting in September of this year, obtained consent to access personal information from all members of the National Assembly and gathered virtual asset transaction details from 36 domestic asset business operators. In response to the escalating controversy surrounding Kim's virtual assets in May, both the ruling and opposition parties jointly approved a 'Resolution on Voluntary Reporting and Investigation of Virtual Assets' and submitted consent to provide personal information of all members to the Civil Rights Commission.


kyu0@donga.com