23 High-Ranking Officials in Gyeonggi-do Holding Virtual Assets... 'No Job-Related Connections'

Among high-ranking public officials in Gyeonggi Province at grade 4 or higher, 23 individuals hold virtual assets, and it was found that these holdings are unrelated to their official duties.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 26th that, ahead of the government's mandatory virtual asset property registration under the "Public Officials Ethics Act" effective December 14, 2023, it proactively required grade 4 or higher public officials to report virtual assets for 10 days starting August 21, in accordance with the "Gyeonggi Province Public Officials Code of Conduct Regulations." As a result, all 23 reported cases were confirmed to have no relevance to their official duties.

Regarding the amount of virtual assets held, 15 individuals possessed small amounts under 1 million KRW, while 8 held amounts exceeding that.

To verify the relevance to official duties, Gyeonggi Province reviewed whether the officials performed related tasks based on their department's work assignments and major administrative decision-making matters, then submitted the cases to the Gyeonggi Province Public Officials Ethics Committee.

Subsequently, on the 20th, the committee convened and thoroughly examined the relationship between the individual duties performed and the virtual assets held by the 23 officials, reaching a unanimous conclusion of "no relevance to official duties."

The duties defined as criteria for determining relevance under the Code of Conduct include ▲ drafting or enforcement of policies or laws related to virtual assets ▲ investigation, inspection, or prosecution related to virtual assets ▲ reporting and management of virtual asset exchanges ▲ support and management of technology development related to virtual assets.

Public officials handling these duties are prohibited from trading or investing using virtual asset information obtained during their work, and those who perform or have performed such duties must report if they hold virtual assets. This survey targeted all grade 4 or higher public officials regardless of whether they performed related duties.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province plans to strengthen pre-education on virtual asset property reporting in accordance with the revised Public Officials Ethics Act and restrict virtual asset holdings for property registrants in departments recognized as acquiring related information or performing tasks involving influence.

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