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Korean Assembly Mandates Crypto Disclosure Amidst Lawmaker’s Scandal

Policy & Regulation·May 25, 2023, 9:25 AM

The Korean National Assembly’s plenary session passed amendments to a couple of acts today that mandate lawmakers and senior government officials to report their cryptocurrency assets, according to news agency News1.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

 

Amendments to two acts

In an afternoon session, the National Assembly passed two amendments: one to the National Assembly Act and another to the Public Service Ethics Act.

The amendment to the National Assembly Act, which had been approved by the Special Committee on Political Reform on Monday, specifically addresses the issue of cryptocurrencies and their potential conflict of interest for lawmakers. Likewise, the amendment to the Public Service Ethics Act, which had been approved by the Public Administration and Security Committee on Monday, imposes a requirement on lawmakers and high-level civil servants to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings.

 

Mandatory crypto disclosure

Consequently, starting from the 22nd National Assembly, lawmakers will be obligated to disclose their cryptocurrency assets. Additionally, the current 21st National Assembly will be required to disclose the cryptocurrencies they held and traded between the beginning of their term and May 31 of this year, with the disclosure deadline set for the end of June.

 

A lawmaker’s crypto scandal

These legislative actions were prompted by allegations surrounding lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk, who was purportedly in possession of 800,000 WEMIX tokens from January to February of last year, potentially valued at up to 6 billion KRW (around $4.5 million). Concerns were raised regarding possible insider trading and conflicts of interest due to Kim’s ownership of these tokens.

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