【South Korea is expected to amend the (Foreign Exchange Transactions Act) to prevent money laundering of virtual assets and other foreign exchange crimes】On December 23, it was reported by the Korea Financial Daily that South Korean lawmaker Choi Eun-sik proposed an amendment to the (Foreign Exchange Transactions Act), aimed at preventing money laundering of virtual assets and other foreign exchange crimes. The amendment proposes the establishment of a monitoring system for virtual asset transactions, the improvement of the institutional basis for financial technology foreign exchange services, enhancing the convenience of foreign exchange transactions for individuals and businesses, and strengthening the intelligent construction of the foreign exchange monitoring system. According to data from the Financial Information Analysis Institute (FIU), the number of suspicious transaction reports from virtual asset merchants increased by 48.8% last year compared to the previous year. The Ministry of Finance plans to add definitions of virtual assets and virtual asset merchants next year, requiring virtual asset merchants to register before conducting cross-border transactions and to regularly report users' transaction records to the Bank of Korea. The amendment is expected to be implemented in the second half of next year.