Lawmaker faces corruption probe over alleged market manipulation
South Korean police are looking into some pretty serious allegations against Kim Byung-kee, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party. The core accusation is that he used his parliamentary position to go after cryptocurrency exchange Upbit right around the time his son got a job at rival platform Bithumb.
Kim has a long history in government service—25 years with the National Intelligence Service, where he served as personnel director before moving into politics. Now he’s facing at least nine separate corruption allegations. Several of these involve claims that he used his government connections to help his family.
Timing raises questions about motives
What makes this case interesting is the sequence of events. According to local media reports, Kim started showing sudden interest in both Dunamu (which operates Upbit) and Bithumb after he was transferred to the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee following the April 2024 general election.
An aide told investigators that Kim met with Dunamu’s CEO multiple times between September and November 2024. He apparently brought his younger son to dinner meetings and even carried his son’s resume around, handing it over during these meetings. Kim also met with Bithumb’s leadership in November 2024. His son ended up joining Bithumb—not Dunamu—in January 2025.
Then things took a turn. The aide said Kim instructed staff to prepare questions attacking Dunamu’s market dominance. He reportedly kept saying the company “needs to be taught a lesson” and should be “shut down.”
Official actions followed family employment
In February 2025, Kim formally questioned the Financial Services Commission chairman about Dunamu’s monopolistic practices. The FSC chief responded that he would consult with the Fair Trade Commission on regulatory measures. The former aide told police, “I believe he made negative inquiries against a competitor because his son joined Bithumb.”
This isn’t the first time Kim has faced allegations about helping family members. He’s also accused of intervening to secure his elder son’s employment at the NIS back in 2016—the same agency where Kim built his career. A leaked recording apparently shows Kim’s wife pressuring an NIS official, saying she needed “confirmation” her son would be hired. The official allegedly promised to create a special recruitment process around the son, and four months later, that’s exactly what happened.
Market context adds complexity
The scandal comes at a time when competition in Korea’s crypto market is really heating up. According to CoinGecko, Upbit leads South Korea’s trading volume with 63%, followed by Bithumb at 30%.
Upbit’s dominance has been slipping recently. Its market share fell below 70% for the first time since 2020, while Bithumb dramatically increased marketing spending—from 16.1 billion won in 2023 to 192.2 billion won in 2024. The landscape could change even more as Binance prepares to complete its Gopax acquisition.
For an industry where regulatory standing can make or break companies, this scandal raises some uncomfortable questions about political influence over competitive dynamics. It makes you wonder how much of what we see in markets is genuine competition versus something else entirely.
Kim has denied any wrongdoing, and the investigation is still ongoing. But the timing of events—the meetings, the job placement, the sudden interest in regulatory action—it all seems a bit too coincidental, doesn’t it? I think we’ll be hearing more about this case as it develops.
