2020 general election

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]

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.^[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]

Gay Dating App Controversy

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]

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.^[23]

General elections