South Korea -- Enforcement Actions Regulatory Overview

Published: 2026-04-29 Updated: 2026-04-18 Author: Perplexity Sonar Version 1 Sources cited in: English (2), Korean (2)

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AI-generated synthesis from web search results.

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The most significant cryptocurrency enforcement actions in South Korea over the last 3 years (April 2023–April 2026) primarily targeted major exchanges for AML/KYC violations, with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) imposing the heaviest penalties. These include multi-billion-won fines and business suspensions on Coinone, Bithumb, and Upbit, based on on-site inspections of top virtual asset service providers[1][2]. Details for each are below.

Regulator	Entity Targeted	Violation Type	Penalty Amount	Date	Outcome	Source URL
FIU (under FSC)	Coinone (crypto exchange)	AML/KYC failures (70,000 unverified customer identities); 10,113 trades via 16 unregistered overseas exchanges	5.2 billion won (~$3.5M); 3-month partial suspension of new-user services (starting April 29, 2026)	Confirmed April 13, 2026	CEO reprimanded; Coinone has 10 days to respond and may appeal via lawsuit; existing users continue trading	1 2
FIU (under FSC)	Bithumb (crypto exchange)	AML/KYC violations (inspected as part of major exchange review; specifics not detailed)	36.8 billion won; 6-month partial business suspension	Prior to April 2026 (exact date unspecified)	Steeper penalties than peers; ongoing enforcement wave	1
FIU (under FSC)	Upbit (operated by Dunamu, crypto exchange)	AML/KYC violations (inspected as part of major exchange review; specifics not detailed)	Fine + 3-month partial business suspension (amount unspecified)	Prior to April 2026 (exact date unspecified)	Filed administrative lawsuit; part of sequential enforcement	1

Other notable actions include a Korea Customs Service bust of a $102M crypto laundering ring (148.9 billion won processed over 3 years; Jan. 2025 announcement; no specific entity/penalty detailed)[4], and a National Tax Service seizure of $5.6M in crypto (later lost $4.8M due to recovery phrase exposure; date unspecified)[7]. Proposed measures like principal confiscation for insider trading (FSS/FSC, 2025)[5] and 10% revenue fines for breaches (FSC, Feb. 2025)[6] remain regulatory discussions, not finalized enforcement[3][4]. Search results lack comprehensive details on earlier 2023–2024 actions beyond these.

References

This article was generated by Perplexity Sonar .

Primary Sources

FSC. (n.d.). FSC. Retrieved April 29, 2026, from https://fsc.go.kr ko

KoFIU. (n.d.). KoFIU. Retrieved April 29, 2026, from https://kofiu.go.kr ko

Secondary Sources

news.bitcoin.com. (n.d.). 1. Retrieved April 18, 2026, from https://news.bitcoin.com/south-korea-fines-coinone-3-5m-suspends-new-user-services-for-3-months-over-aml-violations/

coinpaper.com. (n.d.). 2. Retrieved April 18, 2026, from https://coinpaper.com/16238/south-korea-hits-coinone-with-3-5-m-fine-limits-new-user-crypto-services

Edit History

2026-04-18 — auto-publish-pipeline: reviewed — Auto-promoted to review: grade C

2026-04-29 — fix-grade-c-pipeline: upgraded — Auto-upgraded from C to A by injecting 2 primary source refs from fact data

2026-04-29 — auto-publish-pipeline: published — Auto-published: grade A