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| Lawmakers pass a bill requiring lawmakers and high-level government officials to declare cryptocurrency and other virtual assets, in the National Assembly, Thursday. Yonhap |
The National Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed two bills requiring lawmakers and high-level government officials to declare cryptocurrency and other virtual assets, amid criticism and suspicions over revelations that a lawmaker had held massive coin holdings.
Under a revision to the Public Service Ethics Act, top government officials and lawmakers should report all of their virtual assets in an annual asset disclosure. So far, conventional assets such as bonds, cash, gold and jewelry have to be declared but not digital assets.
The revision came after revelations that Rep. Kim Nam-kuk, now an independent, had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in 2021, worth around 6 billion won ($4.5 million) at that time, a massive amount that does not fit his frugal image.
Suspicions have since arisen over where the money came from and whether he used insider information. Kim also came under fire after revelations that he traded cryptocurrency coins while attending at least two meetings of the judiciary committee of the National Assembly in May and November of last year.
The legislation also includes a clause to prevent conflicts of interest on the part of lawmakers. Legislators who hold positions where they can access insider information or are able to exercise influence regarding laws on virtual assets will be restricted from owning such assets.
The revision will come into effect in December.
Lawmakers also passed a proposed revision to the National Assembly Act that would effectively establish an investigation into all lawmakers' virtual asset holdings.
The revision stipulates legislators must include cryptocurrency assets in their mandatory asset disclosure.
The proposal also contains a special clause requiring current lawmakers to register their virtual asset holdings as of May 30 with the ethics committee by the end of June.
The panel will examine whether any conflicts of interest exist between their asset holdings and legislative duties.
Once promulgated, the revised act will come into effect immediately. (Yonhap)
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