National Tax Service prevents 'coin leakage' recurrence... Government manages 78 billion won in virtual assets

National Tax Service prevents 'coin leakage' recurrence... Government manages 78 billion won in virtual assets

Collection amount increased 100 times in 3 years... Leakage incidents at agencies such as police and prosecution offices also follow

Store in 'cold wallet' institutional wallet immediately upon acquisition... Designate dedicated organization, conduct mock drills

The government will introduce a system to systematically manage public sector virtual assets worth 78 billion won.

This is a plan to create specific internal regulations from acquisition to storage, inspection, and post-response to prevent the recent series of virtual asset leakage incidents at the National Tax Service and other agencies.

On the 10th, the government approved the 'Improvement Plan for Public Sector Virtual Asset Holdings and Management System' containing these contents at an Emergency Economic Headquarters meeting and Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Seoul Government Complex, presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, Koo Yun-cheol.

As of the 6th, the central government holds a total of 78 billion won in virtual assets acquired through seizure and attachment during investigation and tax collection processes. By institution, the order is: National Tax Service (52.1 billion won), Public Prosecutors' Office (23.4 billion won), National Police Agency (2.2 billion won), and Korea Customs Service (0.3 billion won). Public institutions hold 360 million won in virtual assets received as donations.

The government explains that these assets are amounts temporarily stored before final disposition such as confiscation or sale, or immediately after receipt and before conversion to cash, and the total scale is fluid depending on the situation.

As public ownership of virtual assets increases, the government's acquisition volume is also surging. Last year, the amount of forced collection of virtual assets was 63.9 billion won, more than 100 times higher compared to 2022 (0.6 billion won).

However, leakage incidents are recurring due to agencies' lack of awareness of virtual asset characteristics and negligent management.

In February, the National Tax Service announced through a press release that a virtual asset recovery phrase (mnemonic code) was leaked, resulting in the theft of 4 million PRTG, estimated to be worth several million won.

In the same month, the Gangnam Police Station belatedly discovered that 22 Bitcoins worth 2.1 billion won, stored on a USB after seizure, had been leaked externally.

In August last year, the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office lost 320 Bitcoins worth 30 billion won due to accessing a phishing site during a work handover.

Accordingly, the government decided to activate a management system covering all stages from acquisition to post-response.

First, virtual assets seized or attached from personal wallets must be immediately transferred to institutional wallets, such as 'cold wallets' where internet connection is blocked, and stored there. It is mandatory for two or more people to divide and manage important information such as private keys and recovery phrases issued when creating an institutional wallet.

For assets held by exchanges, accounts will be immediately frozen with the cooperation of the operators, and donated assets will be disposed of immediately upon receipt to mitigate risks.

Physical control devices such as safes and closed-circuit (CC) TVs will be installed at storage locations, and access records will be periodically checked.

In the event of a leakage incident, immediate emergency measures will be taken, such as creating a new wallet and moving the remaining assets.

If the scale of damage exceeds a certain standard or external hacking is confirmed, the National Intelligence Service, National Police Agency, and Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) must be immediately notified, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Interior and Safety must be reported.

For incidents caused by violating regulations, measures against those involved, such as criminal charges and disciplinary actions, will be taken.

Each institution will designate a dedicated management organization and personnel, and conduct staff training and mock drills for leakage response at least once a year.

These guidelines will be distributed to each ministry, local government, and public institution starting from the 10th and will be implemented immediately.

Detailed guidelines tailored to the situation of each institution will be established if necessary.