The Korea Herald, an English-language newspaper in South Korea, reported by Cointelegraph on April 7th that bipartisan South Korean lawmakers have been calling on the government to relax regulations on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Politicians have been voicing their concerns that the government under Moon Jae-in’s administration is slowing the growth of the emerging industry. The lawmakers also claimed that the nation’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, had been demonstrating an unwillingness to relax regulations in the crypto and blockchain industry.

The Democratic Party’s Min Byung-doo recently said in a speech at the National Assembly,

The government said it would lower regulation barriers, but cryptocurrency and blockchain are not subject [to such a move], which is a contradiction. It is now time to review previous regulations and ease them according to needs.

Min, who also serves as chairperson of the National Policy Committee, revealed that he had been working with President Moon’s team to bring up the discussion regarding crypto deregulation.

In September 2018, the South Korean government announced a ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs), on the grounds that raising funds via the issuance of cryptocurrency tokens may constitute gambling, which is illegal for South Korean citizens.

Earlier in January 2019, the FSC declared that the ICO ban will remain in place, and in March, South Korea’s Supreme Prosecutors’ Office introduced a specialized team to tackle crimes relating to cryptocurrency.

Despite its anti-crypto stance, the government has been showing support for blockchain development, with an announcement to triple its blockchain development budget this year.

Source: cointelegraph.com

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