In 2024, about 6,000 South Korean officials must disclose their cryptocurrency holdings to the public.
The country’s Ministry of Personnel Management announced on December 27 that the Public Official Ethics System would incorporate details regarding government officials’ private crypto asset holdings.
In the past, certain Korean civil servants would divulge their cryptocurrency holdings in the government’s official gazette or on the websites of ministries or parliamentary chambers. However, beginning in 2024, the Public Official Ethics System will grant Korean citizens access to the declarations of at least 5,800 officials.
Five prominent cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax—will introduce distinct “information provision systems” in June 2024. These systems aim to streamline the process of registering information about crypto holdings.
Kim Nam-kuk, a Democratic Party member, faced censure in May 2023 after discovering that he had previously owned Wemix (WEMIX) tokens worth a minimum of $4.5 million.
These tokens were created by the South Korean blockchain game developer Wemade. The ownership of Wemix by Kim Jung-sung engendered substantial apprehensions regarding possible conflicts of interest, the use of confidential information, and money laundering.
The National Assembly of South Korea amended the National Assembly Act and the Public Service Ethics Act in response to the incident by unanimously voting for civil servants’ mandatory disclosure of crypto assets.
A prospective candidate was required to disclose their digital asset holdings on their party profiles by the Democratic Party of Korea, which controls 167 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, in November.
