South Korea‘s Ministry of Personnel Management has announced that the country’s senior public officials will start disclosing their cryptocurrency assets from the following year. The Ministry of Personnel Management, in a statement made on December 27, announced that property information, including cryptocurrency assets of about 5,800 public officials, will be disclosed in the government’s Public Ethics and Transparency Initiative system.
Ministry’s Noteworthy Step
This system, addressed by the South Korean government, will serve as a portal designed to manage and review the asset records of public officials.
The measures taken in the country followed the adoption of two bills by the nation’s lawmakers in May, which made the disclosure of cryptocurrency assets mandatory as part of the annual asset declaration required for elected and senior government officials. Personnel Management Minister Kim Seung-ho stated the following in his remarks:
“An increase in the transparency of public service is expected through the implementation of an integrated public information service and the recording of cryptocurrency assets.”
The Ministry also announced plans to develop a separate information system that can be used for property registration in June of the following year with five major South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchanges: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax.
Debates in South Korea
In June, South Korean lawmakers addressed a legislative process to better protect crypto investors. The new legislation, consisting of 19 bills related to the crypto sector, grants the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Bank of Korea the authority to supervise crypto companies and asset custodians.
In July, the FSC announced that as part of new accounting rules, South Korean companies will be required to report their cryptocurrency assets from the following year. The new rules will also require crypto companies to report information including details of tokenization, business models, and internal accounting policies.
The developments covered in our news published on November 14, 2023, led to a significant step by the South Korean government towards the crypto market. In May, it was a bombshell when it was revealed that Kim Nam-kuk, a member of the Democratic Party, held at least 4.5 million dollars worth of Wemix (WEMIX) tokens, developed by South Korea-based blockchain game developer Wemade.
