Crypto assets worth nearly $2.8 billion used for foreign exchange crimes: customs data

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Finance

Sat, September 30, 2023 | 21:59

Economy

Crypto assets worth nearly $2.8 billion used for foreign exchange crimes: customs data

Posted : 2022-09-14 16:58

Updated : 2022-09-14 17:53

By Yi Whan-woo

Crypto assets worth nearly 4 trillion won ($2.87 billion) have been used for crimes concerning foreign exchange for past five years, a Korea Customs Service data showed Wednesday.

The data was cited by Rep. Kang Byung-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

The amount accounts for 28 percent of all forex-related crimes, raising concerns over an increase in the misuse of virtual assets.

By country, 541 cases of cyber currency-based foreign exchange crimes were found between Korea and Japan, 193 with China, 168 with the United States and 155 with Hong Kong.

By amount, crypto assets worth 2.9 trillion won were linked to crimes in China, 1.5 trillion won were linked to crimes in Hong Kong, 600 billion won to crimes in Japan and 400 billion won to crimes in the Philippines.

"It is crucial for the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service to cooperate with investigative bodies so that it can enhance policing of forex crimes," Rep. Kang said, adding that developing technologies that can monitor and track crimes in a timely manner also will be critical. He also stressed international cooperation, such as signing MOUs with the countries where illegal forex trading most frequently occurs.