The Prime Minister’s Office has not held any meeting on cryptocurrency and blockchain since August, indicating that the government is not interested in charting any plan on the two emerging sectors.
According to lawmaker Kim Sung-dong of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, the Policy Coordination team at the Prime Minister’s Office does not have any record on whether government officials met on ways of coping with the massive hacking scandal involving the cryptocurrency exchanges.
This raised a question whether the Prime Minister’s Office is acting as a control tower for the blockchain and cryptocurrency business. The Prime Minister’s Office said it has no task force in charge of handling the two sectors, indicating that the government has no immediate plan to foster or regulate the two sectors.
On Jan. 23, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a directive prohibiting government officials from holding or trading cryptocurrencies. Justice Minister Park Sang-ki said in January that the government might shut down the cryptocurrency exchanges. His remark came as prices of cryptocurrencies reach new highs, and the government had blacklisted cryptocurrency investment as ‘gambling.’
As investors became angry over Justice Minister’s statement, the Prime Minister’s Office had announced that the office would work as a control tower for blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Despite its announcement, the office has no official record on whether it held any meeting on blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
