A parliamentary ethics subcommittee on Wednesday voted down a motion to expel Rep. Kim Nam-kuk from the National Assembly over dubious cryptocurrency dealings.
The proposal was rejected in a 3-3 vote in the subcommittee divided evenly between the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP). A majority of support was needed for the motion's passage.
The vote was anonymous, but the three DP members on the subcommittee could have voted against kicking one of their former party members out of parliament. Kim quit the DP in May and became an independent after the scandal broke out.
The rejection also came after Kim declared last week that he will not run in next year's general elections, a move widely seen as aimed at seeking softer measures than expulsion that an advisory panel had recommended to the committee.
The first-term lawmaker came under fire following revelations that he had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billion won (US$4.5 million) at the time. Such a massive amount spurred suspicions about where the money came from and whether he used insider information.
Kim faced further criticism after he was found to have traded crypto coins multiple times while attending standing committee meetings. He left the main opposition DP and became an independent following the revelations.
Source: Yonhap News Agency