South Korea Plans to Open Crypto Market to International Investors with New AML Regulations

The country’s financial regulatory body is exploring ways to expand opportunities for global participation in the crypto market. This intention was expressed by King Sung-ji, the head of the Financial Services Commission’s crypto division, during a seminar at the National Assembly.

Currently, South Korea restricts foreign investors from entering the local cryptocurrency market, primarily due to stringent know-your-customer (KYC) regulations for service providers. Additionally, the country maintains capital account controls, which limit portfolio investments. However, these constraints could be reevaluated if South Korea enacts new regulations to attract international traders. Peter Chung, the head of the Presto Research team, advocates for allowing foreign investors to trade cryptocurrencies on Korean exchanges, suggesting that this would not only alleviate existing restrictions but also invigorate the market and drive growth.

Financial regulators in South Korea may revise AML rules to attract international crypto investors, contingent on exchanges meeting required standards. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is actively working to strengthen these AML regulations and conducted an examination along with sharing inspection plans in March 2025.

Significantly, South Korea has been trying to tackle increasing crypto threats and thefts and aims to bolster the country’s crypto market growth and establishment while guaranteeing investor protection. As part of these stringent regulations, they urged Google to restrict access to 17 crypto exchanges that allegedly operate without proper registration, which Google subsequently did. These platforms included KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, XT, CoinEx, BitMart, and Poloniex.

Notably, South Korea is aiming for global prominence in the crypto market and is taking steps to allow foreign investment by implementing specific AML measures and lifting current restrictions. This move is coupled with efforts to strengthen its regulatory framework to combat illicit activities and protect investors.

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