Korea proposes legislation to empower the financial authorities to freeze accounts of suspected illicit virtual assets

On 30 July, according to DigitalAsset, 15 members of the Korean National Forces Party (KNFP), together with Kim Sang-hoon, launched amendments to specific financial information laws on 28 July. The bill defines the only identification number assigned to users by a virtual asset service provider as "account \\" and gives the Financial Information Analysis Institute (FIU) the power to request a payment freeze on bank accounts and virtual asset accounts suspected of being used for the transfer of illicit property. The freeze period is 30 days, renewable once, and financial institutions face fines of up to 100 million won if they fail to implement it in a timely manner. It will be in force six months after its publication。