Kim Nam-kuk

Kim Nam-kuk (, born 22 October 1982) is a South Korean lawyer and politician. A person from Gwangju, he has currently been operating Lawyer Kim Nam-kuk Legal Firm. He, also one of co-writers of White Paper on Cho Kuk, is widely known for his pro-Cho Kuk views.

Education Kim obtained his Bachelor of Public Administration degree from Chung-Ang University in 2008. He was a member of the Committee for Juvenile Protection of the Ministry of Justice from 2012 to 2015 and was also a court-appointed assistant of Seoul Family Court from 2014 to 2016. On 18 February, he declared to run for Gangseo 1st constituency at the upcoming general election and therefore he planned to formally announce his bid at the National Assembly Proceeding Hall. However, he suddenly cancelled the plan,

Gangseo 1st, where currently being held by Keum Tae-seop, who had criticised the former Justice Minister Cho Kuk. On 21 February, the Democratic Party brought a decision to have a preselection that excludes Kim. Nevertheless, Keum lost to Kang Sun-woo, in which the result was regarded as "shocking". Kim, instead, was nominated to Ansan Danwon 2nd.

Controversies Sexist Podcast On 13 April 2020, Park Soon-ja, the MP for Ansan Danwon 2nd as well as one of the competitors to Kim, has revealed a record of a 18+ podcast where Kim used to appear from January to February 2019. From the record, some guests were speaking offensive words, such as "Have you ever fxxk with your husband at his home?", "suck your mum's dxxk", "such a big boob like head", "Criollos are damn good" and so on, though all of these were never mentioned by Kim himself. Park, did not just condemn Kim, but the entire Democratic Party for "not having a proper mind in sex issues". Kim then revealed, "I was not an emcee; I just attended as a guest because I'm not good in love. But it was so helpless and too offensive. That's why I quit."

Gay dating app controversy On 19 October 2022, Kim Nam-kuk stirred public controversy when parliamentary livestream cameras caught a notification alarm for a gay dating app on his personal cellphone. Kim's office strongly denied that the Member of Parliament was outed as a homosexual, but rather Kim was researching the app after hearing about it from a friend. Also, cellphones are not permitted to be used during parliamentary sessions in the chamber hall.

Cryptocurrency controversy On 14 May 2023, Kim left the Democratic Party after allegations of using and selling cryptocurrencies while Parliament was in session. Kim was reported in possession of 1.5 billion won (US$1,117,310) worth of cryptocurrencies that he acquired while a member of Parliament. He has cooperated in the investigations.

Corruption and Favoritism controversy On 1 May 2025, it was announced that Kim would be appointed as incoming President Lee Jae-Myung's Digital Communications Secretary. Kim resigned on 4 December 2025 after a personal chatroom between him and Cheonan Member of Parliament, Moon Jin-seok, leaked. Kim and Moon, who went to the same university, became in the spotlight when media outlets captured Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jin-seok asking Secretary Kim via mobile phone messenger to recommend a specific university graduate to the president of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. Secretary Kim's response, "I will recommend you to older brother Hoon-sik and older sister Hyun-ji," was also captured, sparking controversy.

Election results Year Elections Constituency Political party Votes (%) Remarks 2020 21st National Assembly General Election Ansan Danwon B (Gyeonggi) Democratic 42,150 (51.32%) Won 2026 2026 By-election Ansan A (Gyeonggi) Democratic 50,969 (55.45%) Won