On August 11, the State Council, which deliberates the government's major policies and legislative bills, approved an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information that strengthens anti-money laundering obligations for virtual asset transactions. At its core is the "travel rule," which requires that when coins are transferred between virtual asset service providers (VASPs) such as exchanges, information including the names and wallet addresses of the sender and recipient be transmitted and retained alongside the transfer. Until now it applied only to transfers of 1 million won or more between domestically registered providers, but going forward it will apply to all transfers regardless of amount. If the required information is missing, a provider must request that the counterparty provider supply it or refuse the transaction.
Separate restrictions apply when virtual assets are sent and received between domestic exchanges and overseas exchanges or personal wallets. Transactions with low-risk overseas providers are permitted, but for other overseas providers or personal wallets they are allowed only when the sender and the recipient are the same person, and transactions with high-risk counterparties are prohibited. Accordingly, sending directly from a domestic exchange account to another person's personal wallet is not permitted in principle. In addition, for transactions with overseas exchanges or personal wallets of 10 million won or more, virtual asset service providers such as domestic exchanges must establish and operate their own suspicious transaction management systems. The relevant provisions are scheduled to take effect six months after the promulgation of the enforcement decree, that is, from February of next year.