Nearly 100,000 South Korean citizens have signed a petition requesting the government to prevent the Ministry of Justice from pursuing a potential cryptocurrency trading ban.

South Korean Citizens Outraged

More than 50 petitions have been submitted to the Blue House, the executive office of the South Korean head of state, the President, and the most popular petition rejecting the Ministry of Justice’s supposed plan to ban cryptocurrency trading has acquired more than 71,000 signatures.

Consequently, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance along with other member agencies of the South Korean cryptocurrency task force stated that they do not support or agree with the Ministry of Justice and its head Park Sang-ki’s decision to impose a ban on cryptocurrency trading.

Shortly thereafter, through the Blue House, the South Korean government publicly emphasized its stance on the cryptocurrency trading ban controversy, and concluded that there will be no ban on cryptocurrency investment in the short-term.

Apart from the most popular petition to prevent cryptocurrency trading ban from being imposed, many petitions have been submitted by South Korean citizens requesting the government to remove Park Sang-ki, the head of the Justice Ministry, from office.

The majority of South Korean citizens in the online community of Blue House claimed that minister Park single handedly manipulated the global market by releasing a premature statement on cryptocurrency trading ban, which was not agreed upon by the task force, and most importantly, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

According to the official announcement of the Blue House and the South Korean government, Park’s statement reflected his personal viewpoint on the matter, not the Ministry of Justice and the government.

As such, many citizens have requested the South Korean government through the petition system of the Blue House to remove minister Park from office. One petition read:

“Today, Justice Minister Park independently released a statement on a cryptocurrency trading ban policy that was not agreed upon by the government and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Many South Korean investors suffered losses as a result. Given that minister Park had released a premature statement that was not the official stance of the government, and caused billions of dollars in losses, he will need to step down by taking responsibility of the situation.”

What Will Happen?

Justice Minister Park will not be removed from office because of this situation and it is highly unlikely that he will face any punishment for his actions. But, the government may request minister Park to offer a public apology to the citizens of South Korea, considering the magnitude of the losses his statement has triggered.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance stated that the agency found out about the cryptocurrency trading ban proposal of minister Park through media reports, and was not made aware of it prior to the press conference, even though the two agencies along with the South Korean central bank are leading a cryptocurrency regulation task force.

Globally, the market valuation of cryptocurrencies declined by nearly $100 billion due to the premature announcement of minister Park.

Seoul street image from Shutterstock.