Democratic Party Demands Yoo Jeong-bok's Resignation Over Crypto Reporting Omission, Releases Recording

The Democratic Party of Korea has escalated its offensive against People Power Party candidate Yoo Jeong-bok, demanding his immediate resignation over alleged cryptocurrency reporting omissions. The party has not only presented a recorded conversation as evidence but also accused Yoo's campaign of deflecting responsibility onto his wife and brother. "Yoo Jeong-bok and his campaign are shifting all responsibility to his spouse and elder brother," stated Democratic Party lawmakers in a press conference, emphasizing that the overseas crypto transactions and clear asset reporting omissions have been exposed.

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Yoo Jeong-bok candidate and his campaign are shifting all responsibility to his spouse and elder brother.

The core of the controversy lies in a recorded conversation between Yoo's wife and a financial manager. In the recording, the manager advises Yoo's wife that reporting the cryptocurrency to Korean authorities might cause issues due to asset declaration rules, suggesting it's better to keep it on an overseas exchange like Binance. Yoo's wife's response, "I'll change it later," has been interpreted by the Democratic Party as an admission of intent to hide the assets. They argue this is an intelligent method of hiding assets by exploiting loopholes, as overseas holdings are not automatically reported to financial authorities unless voluntarily declared.

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It seems like reporting it to a Korean account will cause problems due to asset declaration, so it's fine if you keep it on Binance (overseas exchange). But once it comes into a domestic exchange, it gets reported.

Adding fuel to the fire, the recording also mentions "the mayor's coin" being unlocked from its lock-up period. The Democratic Party interprets this as further evidence that Yoo's cryptocurrency assets were intentionally hidden on an overseas exchange. Yoo had previously been accused of omitting approximately 20,000 overseas cryptocurrency units from his public asset disclosures. His campaign, however, has vehemently denied these allegations, asserting that the funds were the proceeds from Yoo's brother's real estate sale and that his wife was merely assisting her brother-in-law, who was unfamiliar with crypto investments, by using her account under the guidance of the financial manager, who they claim deceived her.

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I'll change it later.

Despite the campaign's explanations, legal experts suggest that if the funds entered the couple's account, they are subject to asset declaration regardless of the ultimate beneficial owner. This distinction is crucial in public official asset reporting. The Democratic Party's aggressive stance and the release of the audio recording have placed significant pressure on Yoo Jeong-bok, turning this into a major campaign issue that questions his integrity and fitness for public office.

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The mayor's coin is scheduled to be unlocked in mid-December and will be completed.