Sony Network Communications and Startale Labs to Launch Joint Blockchain Venture

Korean government to seize crypto for unpaid child supportStarting next year, the South Korean government is set to begin seizing virtual assets such as bitcoin from parents who are obligated to pay child support but fail to do so.Photo by Bonnie Kittle on UnsplashKorea Credit Bureau to assist in crypto seizuresAccording to a report by local news outlet Dailian, the Child Support Agency (CSA) of the Korean Institute for Healthy Family (KIHF), which operates under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, announced on Wednesday (local time) a partnership with the Korea Credit Bureau (KCB). This collaboration will empower the agency to confiscate virtual assets from parents who are delinquent in paying child support.Since 2015, the CSA has been offering emergency child support for approximately a year to low-income single parents who have not received payments from non-custodial parents. In this process, the agency initially pays the child support on behalf of the non-custodial parents and subsequently pursues reimbursement from them. This system ensures that the immediate needs of the children are met while still holding non-custodial parents accountable for their financial responsibilities.Before July 2022, the CSA was required to initiate lawsuits against non-compliant parents to recover child support payments. However, since then, the agency has been authorized to directly pursue reimbursements by following the compulsory national tax collection process.Challenges in enforcing child support paymentsDespite these improved measures, the government still encountered challenges in enforcing child support payments. Some non-compliant parents have resorted to earning income under other people’s names or deliberately concealing their properties, including virtual assets, to evade their child support obligations.Against this backdrop, the recent partnership between the CSA and the KCB is a strategic move to enhance the enforcement of child support payments. This collaboration will grant the CSA access to KCB’s virtual asset management system. With this access, the CSA will be able to efficiently search for and seize the cryptocurrency holdings of non-compliant parents.Jeon Joo-won, the head of the CSA, underlined the significance of the agency’s collaboration with the KCB. She pointed out that utilizing KCB’s financial transaction data will improve the CSA’s enforcement of child support payments. Jeon also emphasized that the mutual support between the two agencies will serve as a foundation for promoting social values, highlighting the broader societal impact of their combined efforts to ensure responsible child support compliance.

Bithumb META Offers Metaverse Fashion Experience at Preview in Seoul 2023Bithumb META, the metaverse subsidiary of leading South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, is participating in the 24th annual Preview in Seoul 2023, Korea’s largest international textile fair organized by the Korea Federation of Textile Industries. The company is using its metaverse, Naemo World, to present the integration of fashion into the metaverse and vice versa.Photo by Amanda Vick on UnsplashFashion’s future unveiledUnder the theme of “Dramatic Core,” this year’s Preview in Seoul is the largest to date with 746 booths from 14 countries participating. Participants are responsible for showcasing materials, textiles, and machinery that represent a future of elevated value.In particular, the digital fashion zone features prominent tech companies from both Korea and abroad and showcases the future of the textile fashion industry’s expansion into the metaverse. Visitors can experience firsthand fashion in the metaverse through artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.Envisioning fashion in the metaverseTo shed light on the future of digital fashion commerce, Bithumb META created a setup where visitors can dive into Naemo World to virtually replicate real-world environments and items — such as clothing made of high-quality garments — through digital twin technology.Attendees can customize their avatars and explore the brand halls of fashion brand Hazzys and athletic gear brand HEAD in Naemo World. They will also be led through a realistic shopping experience within the metaverse — this includes the entire process, from trying on clothing pieces featured in the brands’ 2023 fall/winter season collections to ordering and purchasing products and getting them delivered in the real world.“At this year’s Preview in Seoul, Bithumb META unveiled some of the blueprints for the future of Naemo World’s integration with real-world products and services,” said Bithumb META CEO Cho Hyun-sik.He added that the company would continue to expand and develop Naemo World’s ecosystem to be used for various purposes.Bithumb META also contributed to the planning and development of an ultra-realistic, three-dimensional showroom using Unreal Engine 5, a real-time 3D creation tool developed by Epic Games.Preview in Seoul 2023 is currently being held at Starfield COEX Mall in southern Seoul until Friday.

Korea’s Legislative Research Body Suggests Expanding Blind Trust System to Include CryptoThe National Assembly Research Service (NARS) of South Korea last Friday issued a report emphasizing the need to broaden the scope of the country’s blind trust system for public officials. Currently, this system primarily covers traditional stocks, but the report highlights the necessity of extending its coverage to include cryptocurrencies.Photo by O-seop Sim on PexelsPublic Service Ethics ActUnder the existing Public Service Ethics Act, public officials holding a rank of 4 or higher within the finance department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Financial Services Commission are mandated to either divest themselves of stocks linked to their official duties and responsibilities or transfer them into a blind trust if the total value of these stocks exceeds KRW 30 million (about $23,000).Blind trustA blind trust is a mechanism through which a public official transfers their stock holdings to a trustee. Subsequently, the trustee handles these entrusted stocks by exchanging them for other assets and overseeing their management, administration, and disposition. Importantly, the original owner of the stock, who is the public official, is barred from participating in these aspects of the trust and is also kept uninformed about the trust property’s status or details.Debate over expansionThe current policy confines the blind trust framework exclusively to stocks. Nevertheless, there is an ongoing debate advocating for the inclusion of other assets, such as virtual assets and real estate, within its scope. The rationale behind this argument is that these types of assets can also potentially give rise to conflicts of interest. However, counterarguments have been raised, expressing concerns that extending the blind trust to these assets could excessively limit the property rights of public officials. Consequently, as of now, this broader application has not been implemented.Comparison with the USThe Korean blind trust system was inspired by the United States’ Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which does not limit the types of assets that can be included in a blind trust. In the US, a blind trust can encompass not only stocks but also bonds, mutual funds, virtual assets, and real estate. In light of this, the report recommends the expansion of the blind trust system to encompass virtual assets and real estate. This step is proposed to prevent conflicts of interest among public officials pertaining to a wider array of asset types.Enhancing trustee discretionMeanwhile, NARS also argued for broadening the trustee’s discretion in trust management to render the system more reasonable. This stems from the concern that the existing uniform property sale approach could lead public servants to incur losses. NARS has proposed potential solutions, such as extending the time limit for property sales or mandating the sale of only a portion of the assets, as viable options to address this issue.