According to ChainCatcher, citing Yonhap News, the latest investigation by the Korean Audit and Inspection Agency (BAI) shows that a public servant in Cheongju, South Korea, embezzled 497 million won (approximately 342,000 USD) of public funds for personal cryptocurrency investments and debt repayment. The official forged documents and misused the mayor's seal to open bank accounts, transferring funds to personal accounts. The embezzled funds included disaster relief donations urgently needed after the flood in July last year.The public servant, referred to as "Mr. A," was sentenced to 5 years in prison last December, and the case is currently under review by the high court. The investigation revealed that his embezzlement activities lasted nearly 6 years (from November 2018 to May 2023). The audit report pointed out that the official was able to forge project expenditures and approve electronic transactions without proper oversight. The Cheongju City Hall has been requested to dismiss the official and take disciplinary action against other related personnel.

According to ChainCatcher, The Block reported that South Korea's financial regulatory agency announced on Wednesday plans to release comprehensive guidelines for institutional cryptocurrency investment in the third quarter. The Financial Services Commission made this announcement during a meeting with local cryptocurrency industry experts. While the investment guidelines for listed companies and professional investors are expected to be issued in the third quarter, the Financial Services Commission stated that its goal is to launch investment guidelines for non-profit organizations and cryptocurrency exchanges in April.The Financial Services Commission first announced in January that it would gradually lift the de facto ban on institutional investors investing in cryptocurrencies. Last month, the regulator revealed that it intends to first allow charities and universities to sell their cryptocurrency assets in the second quarter. The upcoming detailed guidelines further solidify South Korea's shift in stance towards cryptocurrencies, no longer strictly opposing the entry of crypto assets into traditional financial markets.Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission has also begun developing a second set of rules for a two-part cryptocurrency regulatory framework, with the first set of rules launched last year. The second part of the cryptocurrency law will focus on stablecoins and regulating cryptocurrency business owners.

ChainCatcher news, the first batch of 3,000 "XR7 AI Dual Gateway" units delivered by EdgeX Labs to the South Korean market is officially online and in use. This marks the formal integration of edge computing resources into the EdgeX Labs distributed infrastructure network in the South Korean market, which will provide more stable, efficient, and low-cost computing support for EdgeX Labs AI accelerators.The "XR7 AI Dual Gateway" is an edge computing network endpoint device from EdgeX Labs. It effectively provides basic computing services for AI Agents, distributed memory storage, and broadband resources, and is equipped with the unique EdgeX OS operating system. It not only offers efficient and secure edge-side AI computing capabilities but also ensures network security and stability.In addition, the intelligent central scheduling system built by EdgeX Labs can reasonably and efficiently allocate AI Agent tasks, enhancing the concurrent processing capabilities of Agents, significantly reducing business latency, and strengthening real-time performance to meet the needs of various AI Agent application developments and complex task innovations.

ChainCatcher news, South Korean financial regulators stated that they will continue to take market stabilization measures.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, television footage shows South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol walking out of the Seoul detention center.Yoon Suk-yeol's lawyer stated that there are procedural and substantive issues regarding Yoon Suk-yeol's detention. His release marks the beginning of the restoration of the rule of law.

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean financial authorities will accelerate the drafting process of the second phase of the virtual asset bill, which will involve issues such as corporate regulation and token circulation disclosure.Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Kim Byung-hwan stated at a parliamentary meeting that with recent actions by the Trump administration in the United States, the global cryptocurrency regulatory landscape is expected to change rapidly. He emphasized that South Korea needs to keep pace with these global developments.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, South Korean media outlet "Daily Kyungjae" reported that South Korean regulators are closely monitoring developments in Japan before making a decision on cryptocurrency spot ETFs. This means that if Japanese regulators approve a Bitcoin ETF application, South Korean regulators may also follow suit.The Japanese Financial Services Commission (FSC) has been discussing the approval of Bitcoin ETFs since the end of last year. However, the agency has repeatedly shown a lukewarm attitude towards cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin ETFs. As a result, South Korean financial authorities "have also begun to react." According to the media report, another top regulatory body in South Korea, the Financial Supervisory Service, has reviewed the cryptocurrency policies of Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) and "shared its findings with relevant organizations in Seoul."Major Japanese media outlets, including the Nikkei, reported that the Financial Services Agency is considering reclassifying cryptocurrencies as investment tools and is also "considering" approving Bitcoin and altcoin ETFs. South Korean regulators believe that the silence of the Financial Services Agency on this matter adds credibility to the reports from the Nikkei.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Korea Economic TV, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission of Korea held a "Anti-Money Laundering Trustee Meeting" to discuss regulatory plans against new types of money laundering methods such as virtual asset trading.The FIU will focus on cracking down on money laundering activities using virtual accounts and simple remittances, conducting special operations once a month to analyze suspicious transactions related to crimes such as voice phishing, pyramid schemes, and gambling targeting vulnerable groups. The Financial Supervisory Service stated that it will strengthen inspections of companies with insufficient implementation of anti-money laundering systems and promote cooperation between consumer protection departments and anti-money laundering departments.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Yonhap Infomax, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed support for cryptocurrency ETFs and Security Token Offerings (STOs). In a post on Facebook, Oh stated that South Korea should establish a regulatory framework that integrates virtual assets with the real economy, similar to the models in the United States and Europe.He emphasized the importance of establishing foundational legislation for virtual assets, which would enable cryptocurrency ETFs, corporate cryptocurrency trading, and STOs, and pointed out that these practices have been widely accepted in leading countries.

ChainCatcher news, the Web3 data platform RootData website has now launched Japanese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese versions to meet the needs of more Web3 enthusiasts and practitioners in the Eastern region. Next, RootData will launch more language versions and take further actions in localized operations.

ChainCatcher News, the Chinese Embassy in South Korea's official WeChat account published a typical case of a virtual currency "pig slaughtering" scam, revealing that a certain international student, under the romantic pressure from his girlfriend, became firmly convinced that he could make money by "trading virtual currency" and entrusted his account to her for management, subsequently transferring over 300,000 RMB for "recharging." The Chinese Embassy in South Korea reminds that online dating carries risks and not to believe in investment schemes that claim to have "insider information" and guarantee profits.

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, the operator of the South Korean virtual asset exchange Upbit, Dunamu, has filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court to revoke the business suspension order imposed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea and has applied for a stay of execution.Previously, on February 25, the FIU made several punitive decisions against Dunamu and its employees for violating the Specific Financial Information Act, including a three-month business suspension for nine employees, a warning issued to CEO Lee Seok-woo, and the dismissal of the compliance officer. The suspension order will restrict new customers from transferring virtual assets from March 7 to June 6.The FIU's penalties stem from on-site inspections conducted from August to October last year, which found that Dunamu had conducted transactions with unreported virtual asset operators abroad and violated customer verification obligations. Dunamu stated that it will truthfully explain the relevant circumstances during the court hearing.

ChainCatcher news, Ripple announced a partnership with South Korean digital asset custody provider BDACS to support institutional custody of XRP and Ripple USD, expanding the availability of Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD.

ChainCatcher news, according to Modern Express, a Chinese man was found dead in a hotel in Jeju, South Korea, suspected to have been murdered during a virtual currency transaction.The South Korean police have arrested four Chinese suspects, including two women in their 30s, one man in his 30s, and one man in his 60s. It has been confirmed that the four suspects fled with 85 million won belonging to the victim, and investigations into the motive and circumstances of the crime are ongoing.

ChainCatcher news, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has explained the sanctions imposed by financial authorities, stating that these sanctions were taken based on issues identified during the 2024 Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on-site inspection. The specific sanctions include a partial suspension of operations and a ban on new customers transferring virtual assets. Upbit has reviewed the necessary improvement measures and completed the actions taken to respond to the sanctions imposed by the financial authorities. The sanctions implemented may change according to relevant regulatory procedures. If the relevant measures are suspended or become ineffective, new users will be able to use Upbit's services without restrictions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Etoday, the South Korean Supreme Court has ruled that the stablecoin TerraUSD and the cryptocurrency Luna are not considered financial investment products or securities. These digital assets collapsed in May 2022, resulting in a loss of approximately $40 billion in value. The latest court ruling may impact similar legal disputes in lower courts.In November 2022, a court in Seoul rejected the prosecutors' request to confiscate the assets of Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, the company behind these tokens. When the prosecutors appealed, the same court reaffirmed its ruling in February 2023.In the appellate court, the judges stated that the evidence provided by the prosecution was insufficient to classify Luna as a "financial investment product" under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. This ruling was made three years after the legal proceedings began.

ChainCatcher message, according to Cointelegraph, the South Korean government has temporarily suspended the download service of DeepSeek AI within the country due to concerns over user data security.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea, the country will allow charities, universities, and cryptocurrency exchanges to sell part of their held cryptocurrencies in the second quarter of this year.In addition, the FSC plans to allow South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges to sell crypto assets obtained as fee income to cover operational costs such as salaries and taxes. However, to avoid conflicts of interest with users due to large-scale sell-offs by exchanges, the relevant operations will be gradually advanced, and a unified "sales guideline" will be established among operators before implementation.According to the plan, a pilot program will be launched in the second half of this year to allow approximately 3,500 listed companies and professional investors to open real-name accounts for investment.Earlier today, news reported that the Financial Services Commission of South Korea plans to open corporate and exchange accounts in three phases.