South Korea Mandates Crypto Disclosure for Political Candidates

The Democratic Party of South Korea has instituted a new policy requiring preliminary candidates for the upcoming general elections to disclose their holdings in virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies, according to The Korea Economic Daily (Hankyung).

This decision, announced by Han Byung-do, the chairman of the Democratic Party’s Strategic Planning Committee, follows discussions within the party’s general election planning team. The party aims to ensure that candidates uphold the highest moral standards and avoid potential conflicts of interest related to digital asset holdings.

Chairman Han emphasized the importance of this policy in a recent statement. “The consensus was that the verification of candidates should be strictly strengthened based on morality,” he said. Han also warned that candidates who fail to accurately report their holdings will face legal repercussions and potentially severe consequences, including the cancellation of their candidacy.

Han also emphasized, “If you make a false report, you will be legally held responsible for it,” and “If you are found, you will take correspondingly strict measures (cancellation of candidacy, etc.).”

“However, (holding virtual assets) itself cannot be questioned. Owning it itself is not the problem.” Han added, “If you look into the process of forming the property, you can identify problems, so the verification committee will look at the contents and strictly review them.” Han said.

Nationwide Efforts to Regulate Digital Assets Intensify in South Korea

This move is part of South Korea’s effort to enhance transparency and accountability in the political process. In the meantime, the South Korean authority has also made efforts to monitor and regulate the digital assets in the country.

South Korea recently joined the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a group of 48 nations calling for the promotion of an international framework for cryptocurrency reporting.

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also aims to establish comprehensive guidelines for the issuance and distribution of cryptocurrencies to enhance the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act passed earlier this year.

The police and other authorities have been relentlessly investigating the frauds and scams and putting criminals into prison. A “suspected crypto fraudster,” on the other hand, reportedly joined the South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Saudi Arabia.