South Korea’s ruling party, the People’s Power Party is seeking to move
up the December enforcement date for a new bill that will require lawmakers in
the country to declare their cryptocurrency holdings. Application of the new
bill is expected to come into effect in the next one or two months, Yun Jae-ok, floor
leader of the party, told reporters on Tuesday.
According to local media Yonap, revision to South Korea’s Public Service
Ethics Act scaled through a parliamentary sub-committee on Monday and is now scheduled
for voting on Friday. However, Yun told reporters that planned enforcement of
the law in December is too far. The lawmaker said it has, therefore, instructed the Public
Administration Committee to put forward a modified version, the outlet reported.
“Given
the current high level of public interest, especially regarding lawmakers, it’s
not appropriate to enforce the law six months later after the
promulgation,”
Yonap quoted Yun as saying.
The new bill primarily aims to address the growing demand
for transparency on the digital asset holdings of lawmakers, which is a trend that has intensified following ongoing
investigation into the crypto holdings of Kim Nam-kuk, a former opposition lawmaker who is now independent.
Kim is currently facing scrutiny
after allegations
emerged that he possessed approximately 800,000 Wemix coins
in 2021, valued at around 6 billion won (US$4.5 million) at that time. The lawmaker is also alleged to have hidden this information from his asset declaration as
current laws do not mandate it.
Furthermore, it is being alleged that Kim withdrew the crypto assets before South Korea implemented global anti-money laundering body
Financial Action Task Force’s (FAFT) travel rule in March last year. The rule
demands that crypto exchanges record and report personal data on transactions
that exceed a certain threshold.
New Concerns
Meanwhile, Yonhap reported that Yun raised new concerns
about the lawmaker’s crypto activities. According to the outlet, the legislator said Kim might have withdrawn 250 million won worth of coins between February
and March 2022 before the
country’s presidential election.
The lawmaker also believes
that the amount far exceeds the 4.4 million won Kim previously
acknowledged to have cashed out during that period. Additionally, Yun expressed suspicions that Kim’s
involvement in cryptocurrency transactions may have been linked to money
laundering activities.
As investigation into…
