Dunamu, the parent company of the largest crypto exchange of South Korea, Upbit, reportedly took legal steps against the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the country about an order of a business suspension.
This is because the South Korean authorities sharpen their grip on crypto-related crimes by launching a special unit to handle research into digital assets.
Upbit challenges FIU
On 28 February, Dunamu reportedly brought a lawsuit to the Seoul Administrative Court that tried to destroy the sanctions of the FIU.
Last November, South Korean supervisors accused the Upbit of not carrying out the correct due diligence in hundreds of thousands of cases.
As a result, the FIU forbade the new Exchange customers to transfer virtual assets on Upbit between March 7 and June 6
However, Dunamu has challenged this position and claims that the fine will significantly influence its activities.
Dunamu insisted that it has taken the necessary compliance measures in response to legal concerns and believes that the sanctions are disproportionate. The company also claimed that the FIU sanctions were made without taking into account important facts and circumstances.
Dedicated crypto unit
In a parallel development, the Southern Southern district officer of Justice in South Korea has launched a specialized Joint Investigation Unit (JIU) to combat cryptocurrency-related crimes, as local media reported on 27 February.
According to the report, the newly established unit consists of 35 financial supervisors and public prosecutors of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervision Service. Their primary focus is to investigate and continue crypto-related fraud, theft and illegal market activities.
The authorities introduced this initiative after the success of a temporary task force that was set up in 2023 to combat rising cryptocurrency-related offenses. The increasing complexity of these crimes led to the creation of a permanent unit to guarantee more effective enforcement.
Since the launch of the Initial Task Force, public prosecutors have sued 74 people and arrested 25 in cases with fraudulent regulations and market manipulation.