A South Korean lawmaker was acquitted in a case involving the concealment of cryptocurrency assets

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Judge Jeong Woo-Yong of the 9th Criminal Division of the Southern District Court of Seoul ruled that Mr. Kim was acquitted of charges of obstructing official duties by deception.

On December 18, 2024, prosecutors requested a six-month prison sentence for Mr. Kim, accusing him of declaring total assets of 1.2 billion won (834,000 USD) in 2021, while actually holding nearly 9.9 billion won (6.8 million USD) in cryptocurrency. Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Kim obstructed the Ethics Committee's review of lawmakers' assets due to potential conflicts of interest arising from his holdings.

However, Judge Jeong ruled at the time that, under the Korean Public Service Ethics Act, virtual assets are currently not subject to mandatory disclosure. The court found it difficult to determine that the lawmaker had an obligation to disclose his assets.