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Former Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, who was indicted for submitting false asset declarations to the National Assembly to conceal his large cryptocurrency holdings, was found not guilty in the first trial.

Judge Jung Woo-yong of the Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Division 9 ruled on the 10th that 'there is no proof of criminal conduct in this case' regarding Kim's charges of interference with public official duties.

The court stated, 'According to the Public Service Ethics Act at the time, virtual assets were not subject to registration' and 'it is difficult to conclude that the defendant had an obligation to register such assets.'

While noting that 'there were aspects of the defendant's asset declaration that were incomplete or inaccurate,' the court explained that 'it is difficult to determine that the National Assembly's Public Service Ethics Committee's authority to review was interfered with by deception, even if they couldn't accurately assess the total assets.'

When questioned by reporters about the court's decision, former Rep. Kim claimed it was an unjust prosecution and emphasized the need for prosecutorial reform.

Kim stated, 'There are 15 million cryptocurrency investors in Korea, more than stock investors' and explained that 'cryptocurrency investment is a legal economic activity no different from stock investment.'

He further argued, 'If my case constitutes interference with public duties, then the 30 other lawmakers who also invested would all be guilty of the same charge,' and claimed 'this was an unfair political targeting, as evidenced by the lack of investigations or indictments against lawmakers who concealed their holdings even after the law was amended to require cryptocurrency declaration.'

Kim was indicted for allegedly interfering with the National Assembly Public Service Ethics Committee's asset review process by transferring some of his cryptocurrency account deposits to bank accounts to match his total assets, then converting the remaining deposits back to cryptocurrency before the 2021 and 2022 parliamentary asset declarations.

Prosecutors believed Kim committed the offense to hide his cryptocurrency holdings, which amounted to 9.9 billion won, during the asset declaration process in February 2022.

Lee Min-hyung, Hankyung.com reporter meaning@hankyung.com