South Korea’s Kim Min-seok Says He Will Seek ‘Reasonable Solution’ on Crypto Tax

Kim Min-seok, leader of South Korea’s Democratic Party, said he would seek a "reasonable solution" on taxation of virtual assets, or cryptocurrencies, set to take effect next year.

In a post on X on October 21, Kim said he was listening to a range of views on the crypto tax issue. He added that the National Assembly and the government should work toward a reasonable solution through discussions that take into account improvements to the system, the voices of young people and current conditions.

A day earlier, Kwon Dae-young, first vice finance minister at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, met with officials from the country’s five largest crypto exchanges, including Dunamu and Bithumb, to gather views on crypto taxation. The move followed remarks by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il at a parliamentary audit earlier in October, when he said the government would gather opinions from a range of stakeholders before moving ahead with implementation.

The People Power Party said it plans to consult with the Democratic Party on delaying the crypto tax. Park Soo-young, deputy head of the ruling party’s policy committee, said on October 21 that he would push for discussions between ruling and opposition party policy coordinators on the issue. The party argues that taxing only crypto income would be unfair after the financial investment income tax was abolished.