South Korea’s FSC Increases Crypto Money-Laundering Tracking Budget by $1.4 Million

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission will expand investment in a specialized crypto-asset analysis and tracking solution and an artificial intelligence-based screening system to respond to money laundering involving virtual assets, or digital assets.

Digital Asset reported on September 8 that the FSC, in materials submitted to the National Assembly on September 3, increased the budget for introducing a virtual-asset analysis and tracking solution by 1.93 billion won, or about $1.4 million. It also added 11.4 billion won, or about $8.3 million, for the development of an AI-based screening and analysis system.

The FSC determined that existing systems have limitations in tracing fund flows as money-laundering methods become faster and more complex with advances in blockchain technology. It plans to use specialized tracking tools and AI to strengthen the suspicious-transaction analysis capabilities of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the country’s anti-money-laundering watchdog.

The commission expects the new system to enable more precise analysis of suspicious transactions involving virtual assets. It also expects to improve the completeness of information provided to agencies responsible for investigations and other law-enforcement actions.

The operating budget for infrastructure used to investigate unfair trading in virtual assets was also expanded. The related budget will rise about 12% to 192 million won, or about $139,000, in 2027 from 171 million won, or about $124,000, this year.