Speaking with Yonhap News at a hotel in Portugal after making formal visits to Portugal as well as the United Kingdom, Chung Sye-kyun (정세균) the Speaker of the National Assembly, commented on the current situation regarding cryptocurrency while discussing current political issues in Korea. He said that “Although [Korea] stopping speculative investing is necessary, blocking new technology would be shooting itself in the foot.” He also stated “It can’t be denied that blockchain is one of the most important technologies backing the 4th industrial revolution” and emphasized “Cryptocurrency regulations need to be done properly so that areas that require incentives can be incentivized; We must have those kind of reasonable policies.

This appears like a very progressive step and an important development in what has been a very uncertain few weeks regarding Korean cryptocurrency regulations. After news that exchanges will be closed and crypto will be banned leading the market to shed almost half of its value, this announcement seems like it should bring stability to the situation in Korea and markets at large.

Do you think that Korea will follow through on these more open and welcoming policies? Or will it turn back to banning and shutting itself off from cryptocurrency and blockchain? Also, do you think that currently Korea plays too much of a role in the cryptocurrency space, and that its role should be reduced? Or does having Korea as a leader in the cryptocurrency and blockchain area lend itself well to the markets and development?



Image Source: Yonhap News

Source: http://news.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=3596652