Yoon Chang-hyun: "Amid Concerns Over 'Coin Run' Reality, Government Departments Busy Postponing Work"

Police Unable to Investigate Exchange Officials
"Action Needed to Freeze Problematic Exchange Accounts"

Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, is attending and questioning at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee's audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission held on the 15th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the People Power Party, issued an emergency statement on the 7th, urging measures as signs of a "coin run" are emerging. A coin run is a term derived from "bank run," referring to a situation where depositors rush to withdraw large amounts of funds simultaneously when a bank is in danger.

Yoon pointed out, "According to media reports, about 130 people who purchased coins using an exchange called 'Bitsonic' are being refused withdrawal of 7.5 billion KRW," adding, "The Financial Supervisory Service says it is not within their jurisdiction, and the Korea Consumer Agency also responded that they cannot assist." He continued, "While clearly witnessing a fraud case, government departments are busy postponing their duties, and even though the police received reports of the damage in February last year, they have yet to complete investigations into the exchange officials."

Yoon criticized the government for its delayed response despite the cryptocurrency trading fraud becoming apparent. He said, "The Financial Services Commission claims that it has not held any interdepartmental meetings related to cryptocurrency from January 2019 to March this year, whereas the Office for Government Policy Coordination stated that it has held about 20 interdepartmental vice-ministerial meetings since 2018," adding, "It would be problematic even if nothing was done, but if about 20 meetings were held and this confusion still occurred, the government's incompetence cannot be overlooked."

He also pointed out the issue of public institutions, including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, investing in cryptocurrency. According to Yoon, after the 2018 cryptocurrency incident, a total of 50.2 billion KRW from five government institutions, including 34.3 billion KRW from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and 11.8 billion KRW from the Korea Development Bank, was invested in virtual asset exchanges. Yoon said, "While one side calls it gambling, the other side is making investment profits, causing confusion among the public."

Yoon emphasized, "The Board of Audit and Inspection should conduct duty inspections targeting specific ministries," and added, "The prosecution and police must immediately start investigations, and financial authorities should freeze accounts of problematic exchanges."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.