"No Escape for Crypto Criminals"... Southern District Prosecutors' Office Launches 'Joint Digital Asset Crime Investigation Division'

Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Digital Asset Joint Investigation Team Officially Established as 'Joint Investigation Division'

Prosecutor General Woo-jung Shim: "Digital Asset Market is Murky... Will Respond Strictly"

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Joint Digital Asset Crime Investigation Team has been officially established as the 'Joint Digital Asset Crime Investigation Division.'

On the morning of the 27th, the Southern District Prosecutors' Office held an inauguration ceremony on the first floor of its annex in Sinjeong-dong, Seoul, officially launching the Joint Digital Asset Crime Investigation Division. This comes 1 year and 7 months after the establishment of the previous non-official Joint Digital Asset Crime Investigation Team. The first division head will be Chief Prosecutor Park Geon-wook (34th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), who was the team leader.

The ceremony was attended by Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung, Southern District Chief Prosecutor Shin Eung-seok, Supreme Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption Department Head Koo Seung-mo, Southern District First Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong, as well as Kim Soo-hong, head of Financial Investigation Division 1 at Southern District, and Ahn Chang-ju, head of Financial Securities Crime Joint Investigation Division at Southern District.

Prosecutor General Shim stated, "Digital assets have high volatility and involve transnational transactions, requiring the use of advanced technology for investigations," adding, "As concerns about the murky digital asset market have grown, please respond strictly to digital asset crimes based on the investigative experience and expertise accumulated so far."

The Joint Investigation Division consists of Chief Prosecutor Park, two deputy chief prosecutors, and four prosecutors. Including 16 prosecution staff and 11 staff members from related agencies such as the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service, the total personnel amounts to 34 people.

The Southern District Prosecutors' Office stated, "As digital asset crime methods become more sophisticated, intelligent, and internationalized, we will build an effective crime response system by combining expertise and know-how through cooperation with relevant agencies."

Reporter Park Si-on ushire908@hankyung.com