South Korea introduces measures to combat cryptocurrency crime

South Korean authorities have introduced measures to combat crimes involving cryptocurrencies

Regulators will introduce monitoring of crypto exchanges and a joint initiative with the US against North Korean hackers

South Korea's financial intelligence unit (KoFIU), which focuses on combating money laundering and terrorist financing, held a meeting to "strengthen the compliance of virtual service providers," according to a statement released by the South Korean Financial Services Commission.

The meeting came a day after the country established a multi-agency investigative unit to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes with more than 30 investigators.

"KoFIU has a supervisory role, mainly anti-money laundering, but we will also run a virtual asset strategic analysis unit to analyze criminal activities more systematically," Commissioner Ri Yunsu said during the meeting.

Five South Korean crypto service providers attended the meeting and outlined their measures to combat potential threats from crypto fraudsters. In particular, representatives of the crypto exchange Upbit said they used artificial intelligence to detect erroneous transactions.

Also, the U.S. and South Korea held a working group meeting on cyber threats from North Korea. The two sides discussed how to better collaborate with foreign governments and industry leaders to raise awareness of threats coming from the DPRK and increase data sharing between country authorities and companies on cybersecurity issues.

In July, regulators in Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea issued cryptocurrency regulations to protect investors and crypto exchange users.