South Korea proposes bill to freeze crypto accounts for illicit transfers

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party has proposed an amendment to the Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information. This amendment would empower financial authorities to request payment suspensions for cryptocurrency exchange accounts suspected of transferring illicit assets. The bill redefines an 'account' as a unique identification number assigned by a virtual asset service provider to a user for transaction services, thereby expanding the law's scope. It also allows the Financial Intelligence Unit under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission to request payment suspensions from financial institutions and virtual asset service providers if there are grounds to suspect that bank accounts and digital asset accounts were used for illicit transfers.