Kim Nam-kuk

On 7 February 2020, Kim was brought into the ruling Democratic Party along with Kim Yong-min.[9] 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.[10] However, he suddenly cancelled the plan,[10] somehow people suggested that he did flip-flop on his earlier decision.[4] Soon, he posted on Facebook that he had confirmed to run for the election.[11]

Gangseo 1st, where currently being held by Keum Tae-seop, who had criticised the former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.[4] As Kim holds pro-Cho Kuk views,[3][4][5][6][7] various newspapers often used the term "Cho vs Anti-Cho" should a preselection between 2 of them is carried out.[3][4][5] Keum accused Kim for making the election as "defending the ex-Justice Minister".[6][7] Kim then reacted that Keum was urging him to not stand for the election.[12] On 21 February, the Democratic Party brought a decision to have a preselection that excludes Kim.[13] Nevertheless, Keum lost to Kang Sun-woo, in which the result was regarded as "shocking".[14] Kim, instead, was nominated to Ansan Danwon 2nd.[15]

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.[16][17] 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.[18] Park, did not just condemn Kim, but the entire Democratic Party for "not having a proper mind in sex issues".[16] She then urged him to resign his candidacy as soon as possible, as well as his party to sincerely apologise.[16] The Justice Party also harshly denounced and advised him to make an apology.[17] Chin Jung-kwon, also accused him by connecting with Nth room case.[19][20] 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."[17] He also added that Park was connecting the controversy to the Nth room case in order to "overturn the situation".[17] In the end, he expressed his regret.[17]

The next day, he was sued by a civic organization for breaching the Information and Communications Network Act.[21]

On 19 October 2022, Kim Nam Kuk once again 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. Either way, cellphones are not permitted to be used during parliamentary sessions in the chamber hall.[22]

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.[23]