The South Korean Government has drafted an amendment to an existing law, which would require public officials to disclose their digitalย currency holdings.ย
According to the draft, public officials are abusing their positions, likewise as the fact that theย present Public Service Ethics Act does not inย particularย require them to disclose their digital investment holdings in addition to real estate, cash, or stock holdings worth over $7,500.ย
It requested that,
โ Inย contrastย toย deposits and securities, all virtual assets must be registered regardlessย of the amount.โ
Inย addition, there are intendsย to specify relevant details such as the method of calculating or displaying the value of a digital asset.
Thereย is likewise a note on receiving โinformation from the virtual investment operator with the consent of the personโ when registering property.ย
The draft, submitted on May 19, is asย ofย now in the โcommittee reviewโ stage. It should be submitted for a final vote in a plenary session on May 25.
Abusing official position
Digital assets are not subject to registration and reporting, the draft says.ย
Therefore,
Certain public officials are โabusing a superior position in accessing numerous financing information to unfairly protect property. Thereย is concern that it can be used as a tool for proliferation or concealment.โ
The draft describes that,
โ Recently, it was found that an active member of the National Assembly has a large amount of virtual assets, but it is missing from the disclosure details of the lawmakerโs property, which is pointed out as a loophole in the law.โ
Asย alreadyย stated in early May, lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk found himself in hot water after being accused of performing suspicious cryptocurrency trades worth about KRW 6 Billion ($4.5 million).ย
The politician was accused of withdrawing his cryptocurrency holdings from an exchange shortly before the country implemented the so- wasย known cryptocurrency travel rule in March 2022, which obliged owners of cryptocurrency assets to carry out real-name transactions.ย
If true, this may constitute insider trading, implying that he acted on the knowledge of a next legal change.
Kim arguedย that he had not cashed out but transferred cryptocurrency to a different exchange โ but likewise, itโsย worthย notingย that, that he was not required to report his cryptocurrency holdings under the disclosure obligation of the countryโs public service ethics act.
As the so- wasย known โCoin Gateโ fallout continued, it was informed in mid-May that the National Assemblyโs Political Affairs Committee co-created a resolution that would create a โvoluntaryโ system whereby officials are requested to report cryptoasset holdings โ which, numerous opined, could become a mandatory protocol.
And numerous claimedย that Kim may not be the only MP involved in Coin Gate: MP Yoon Han-hong, a member of the Political Affairs Committee, wasย known for a probe into โall 300โ sitting MPs.
Just days ago, the Justice Ministry hit out at assertsย that Minister Han Dong-hoon โrefused to disclose informationโ about whether or not he owned cryptocurrency. It arguedย that โthe cryptoasset holding status of public officials who work with cryptoasset [regulation]โ and all โpublic officials belonging to the Ministry of Justiceโ is checked bi-annually. ย
It had begun to check officials in this manner in 2021, it stated, with the most up-to-date check conducted in January this year.
Learn more:ย
โ South Korean Prosecutors Buy Blockchainย Tech Analytics Tools in Bid to Bust โ Cryptocurrency Money Launderingโ
โ South Korean Regulatingย authority โNot Meeting SEC to Talk About Cryptocurrenciesย Securities Statusโ
โ South Korean Cryptocurrency Exchanges Set to Renew Banking Deals
โ Samsung and Bank of Korea Partner for In-Depth Offline CBDC Payments Research
