South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service and Other Institutions Sign Joint Agreement to Combat Cryptocurrency Money Laundering and Illegal Overseas Withdrawals

Gate News Report, March 17 — The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Customs Service, Credit Finance Association, and nine credit card companies in South Korea signed the “Cross-Border Crime Fund Blocking Public-Private Cooperation Agreement” on the same day. The agreement aims to cut off the money flow of telephone scams and virtual asset crimes at the source by analyzing overseas credit card usage details and entry-exit records. Previously, due to information gaps between agencies, Customs had access to entry-exit data but couldn’t monitor abnormal overseas spending in real-time, while credit card companies had payment data but lacked insight into cardholders’ customs clearance activities. Under the new system, Customs will provide credit card companies with high-risk transaction trends, and the FSS will develop guidelines, authorizing credit card companies to take measures such as transaction interruption when anomalies are detected. Lee Chan-jin, head of the FSS, stated that this move marks the establishment of a normalized monitoring system in South Korea to prevent the outflow of criminal proceeds overseas from the source. The system will focus on precisely targeting “currency exchange” activities that involve cashing out at overseas ATMs using foreign credit cards and laundering money through cryptocurrencies.