South Korea’s Cryptocurrency Regulator Found Dead At Home

Crypto Regulator Of South Korea Dies Of Heart Attack – Investigators Conduct Further Examination

Jung Ki-joon, the 52-year-old South Korean official who had served as a visionary in the regulatory clampdown on cryptocurrencies was found dead in his apartment on Sunday. Serving as the head of economic policy at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ki-Joon had a considerable role to play in bringing forth new legislations and coordinating efforts which were directed at suppressing illicit activities and massive speculations entered into via the crypto medium.

Yonhap, a semi-official news agency reported that Mr. Ki-Jung had suffered a heart attack. However, the police department is investigating further into the regulator’s death. A government spokesman later revealed that, “he died from some unknown cause. He passed away while he was sleeping and [his] heart [had] already stopped beating when he was found dead.”

Yonhap also reported that Mr. Jung’s was under heavy stress as revealed by his colleagues. The main reason behind this building up stress was the extreme work pressure arising out of regulatory stances taken by South Korean government to tackle cryptocurrency speculation.

Also Read: It’s Confirmed, South Korea Won’t Ban Cryptocurrency Trading

The threat of new legislative measures in South Korea caused the price of Bitcoin to undergo a massive market correction after having a dream run in 2017.

Extreme enthusiasm amongst South Korean investors was one of the biggest reasons behind the ballooning price of Bitcoin in 2017. This had served as a major cause of concern for Lee Nak-yon, the South Korean Prime Minister who had issued a warning last year stating that increasing usage of cryptocurrencies can “lead to some serious distorted or pathological phenomenon.” He also added that cryptocurrencies cannot be branded as a legal tender and that the government shall “strongly respond to excessive cryptocurrency speculation and illegal activity.”

4.5% of global bitcoin transactions were entered into using the South Korean won last year. CryptoCompare revealed that this helped won attain the position of an extensively used fiat for fostering bitcoin trading just after U.S dollar, Japanese yen and the euro. The second position was also bagged by the South Korean won for being used for trading in alternative cryptos such as Bitcoin Cash. Compared to the rest of the world, the price of Bitcoin has surged to brilliant figures in South Korea courtesy its frenetic trading environment. Bitcoin is being traded at a 50% premium in South Korean exchanges. This phenomenon has received the nomenclature of “kimchi premium” by crypto traders. Irrespective of impending regulations, such premium trading has not halted in South Korea causing government officials to order the certification of bank accounts and stringent verification checking.

Also Read: A Survey Reveals One Third Of South Korean Workers Have Invested In Cryptocurrencies

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Tarunima Ghosh Laha is a Finance Post Grad from St. Xaviers who believes Finance is more than just Balance Sheets and Ledger creation. This filmy bookworm who believes she was a sloth in past life also nourishes a penchant of owning a private zoo someday. Equipped with a laptop and online Lexicon she is all set to give finance a glamorous makeover in the form of exciting writeups with bang on info and flashy new words.