South Korean parliament rejects motion to expel lawmaker over crypto scandal
South Korea’s parliamentary ethics subcommittee has voted down a motion to expel Kim Nam-kuk, a former member of the main opposition Democratic Party.
A parliamentary ethics subcommittee of South Korea has voted down a motion to expel Kim Nam-kuk, a former member of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the local news agency Yonhap reported on Aug. 30.
The subcommittee rejected the proposal on Aug. 29 after the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the DP divided evenly over the motion in a 3–3 vote. A majority of votes was needed for the motion to be passed, the report notes.
As previously reported, Kim came under fire earlier this year when he was found to have once held at least $4.5 million in Wemix (WEMIX) tokens, developed by the South Korean blockchain game developer Wemade. Wemix tokens had been allowed for trading on major exchanges in South Korea before a local court ordered to delist the tokens on the platforms in late 2022.
Kim’s involvement in WEMIX investments spurred major concerns over potential conflicts of interest, using insider information and even money laundering. The case contributed to the rapid development of a legal initiative to require officials to report on their holdings of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in South Korea.
Officials in South Korea are not alone in being asked to report on their cryptocurrency holdings in the country. In July, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission announced a new bill that would require all firms that issue or hold cryptocurrencies to disclose their holdings from 2024.
Related: SEC seeks to question Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin in Korea
In mid-August, the South Korean city of Cheongju also said that it would start confiscating cryptocurrency from local tax delinquents, requiring exchanges, such as Upbit and Bithumb, to report on such perpetrators.
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Magazine: Asia Express: Bitcoin miner gets life in prison, China offers bounties for crypto firms
Jeremy Kranz, founder of Sentinel Global, a venture capital firm, said investors should be “discerning” and read the fine print on any stablecoin.
Politics
Labour deputy leadership candidate accuses opponent’s team of ‘throwing mud’ and briefing against her
Lucy Powell has accused Bridget Phillipson’s team of “throwing mud” and briefing against her in the Labour deputy leadership race in a special episode of Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
With just days to go until the race is decided, Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby spoke to the two leadership rivals about allegations of leaks, questions of party unity and their political vision.
Ms Powell told Electoral Dysfunction that through the course of the contest, she had “never leaked or briefed”.
But she said of negative stories about her in the media: “I think some of these things have also come from my opponent’s team as well. And I think they need calling out.
“We are two strong women standing in this contest. We’ve both got different things to bring to the job. I’m not going to get into the business of smearing and briefing against Bridget.
“Having us airing our dirty washing, throwing mud – both in this campaign or indeed after this if I get elected as deputy leader – that is not the game that I’m in.”
Ms Powell was responding to a “Labour source” who told the New Statesman last week: “Lucy was sacked from cabinet because she couldn’t be trusted not to brief or leak.”
Ms Powell said she had spoken directly to Ms Phillipson about allegations of briefings “a little bit”.
Bridget Phillipson (l) and Lucy Powell (r) spoke to Sky News’ Beth Rigby in a special Electoral Dysfunction double-header. Pics: Reuters
Phillipson denies leaks
But asked separately if her team had briefed against Ms Powell, Ms Phillipson told Rigby: “Not to my knowledge.”
And Ms Phillipson said she had not spoken “directly” to her opponent about the claims of negative briefings, despite Ms Powell saying the pair had talked about it.
“I don’t know if there’s been any discussion between the teams,” she added.
On the race itself, the education secretary said it would be “destabilising” if Ms Powell is elected, as she is no longer in the cabinet.
“I think there is a risk that comes of airing too much disagreement in public at a time when we need to focus on taking the fight to our opponents.
“I know Lucy would reject that, but I think that is for me a key choice that members are facing.”
She added: “It’s about the principle of having that rule outside of government that risks being the problem. I think I’ll be able to get more done in government.”
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Insider vs outsider
But Ms Powell, who was recently sacked by Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the Commons, said she could “provide a stronger, more independent voice”.
“The party is withering on the vine at the same time, and people have got big jobs in government to do.
“Politics is moving really, really fast. Government is very, very slow. And I think having a full-time political deputy leader right now is the political injection we need.”
The result of the contest will be announced on Saturday 25 October.
The deputy leader has the potential to be a powerful and influential figure as the link between members and the parliamentary Labour Party, and will have a key role in election campaigns. They can’t be sacked by Sir Keir as they have their own mandate.
The contest was triggered by the resignation of Angela Rayner following a row over her tax affairs. She was also the deputy prime minister but this position was filled by David Lammy in a wider cabinet reshuffle.
HMRC sent nearly 65,000 warning letters to crypto investors last year, more than double the previous year, as the UK steps up efforts to trace undeclared capital gains.
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