South Korean police to crack down on 'Tether laundromats'

South Korean police intend to strengthen their crackdown on so-called "Tether laundromats" following a series of cases where criminal organizations were caught laundering funds with the dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT). To support this effort, the agency plans to enhance its virtual asset investigation capabilities. The Korea Economic Daily reported that Park Seong-ju, head of the National Office of Investigation at the Korean National Police Agency, stated at a press conference in Seoul today that authorities will prepare specialized training for virtual asset investigations in collaboration with related agencies like the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). He added that while investigations have previously focused on major crimes such as fraud and drug offenses involving virtual assets, they will now invariably include tracing the laundering of criminal proceeds.