South Korean Government Officials still not able to arrive at a consensus with regard to crypto regulation when the highest officials showed willingness not to tighten the rules. Even though various meetings have been held between the concerned, yet the Offices of the country’s Ministries have refused to wield any charge over proposed crypto regulations.
The members of the South Korean Parliament have held several meetings for the purpose of discussing and debating the proposed crypto regulations. The meeting was also convened under “crypto summits” at the Office of the country’s premier where the issues concerning the crypto regulation were again addressed.
An anonymous government official told the media that talks were held between the Prime Minister, the ruling party’s leader, and the Blue House’s Secretary. He however informed that the talks remained unfruitful as there was no consensus arrived at over the crypto regulations. He said that the leadership was not able to find any optimistic solution to the problem at hand because of several reasons.
The unnamed official informed that apparently, no one in any of the country’s Ministries is willing to take the responsibility of solving the problem. Because of this deadlock, now the premier will have to delegate responsibility to the Ministries himself. But until the responsibilities are delegated, the issue will continue to hold its ground.
SBS, a local news outlet, reported that Parliamentarians held meetings and discussed crypto bills that were sent to the National Assembly. Crypto tax, which will be implementable in 2022, also was on the agenda for discussion during the meeting. It was reported by SBS that there were at least 9 or 10 Ministries and state institutions that were connected with the issue at hand. But none is coming forward to take the responsibility of regulating the South Korean crypto industry.
Meanwhile, the virtual assets still remain undefined as “virtual currencies” in the country. An argument is raised as if the Government is not willing to accept “virtual assets” as piece and parcel of “financial assets”.
However, the political party in power i.e. Democratic Party has said that it will prolong the application of crypto tax. The idea is to earn the confidence of the young voters as the upcoming general elections are due soon. In addition, a large portion of the South Korean population is comprised of youngsters. Furthermore, the majority of crypto traders and investors in the country too are part of the youth. It, therefore, makes sense that the youth should be taken into confidence if the ruling party wishes to serve for another term.
Yet still, there is indecision apparent within the South Korean Government with regard to crypto regulation. On one hand, it wants to ensure more votes by convincing the youth that it is in favor of the crypto. On the other hand, it is considering crypto regulation and plans to impose the crypto tax.
