Among the 2,047 public officials in South Korea who submitted their asset declarations, 20% reported owning cryptocurrency. Notably, Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young holds the largest stake, valued at 1.7 billion KRW.
A recent report revealed by local media on March 27, detailed the personal assets of public officials as of 2025. According to the Government Public Ethics Committee, 411 of the 2,047 officials are directly involved in cryptocurrency ownership or investments.
This means that 20% of officials in South Korea are engaged in cryptocurrency, including notable figures such as the Secretary General of the Labor-Management Development Foundation, the President of the Korean National Police University, and the Vice President of the Korea Water Resources Corporation.
The cumulative value of the crypto assets held by these 411 public officials totals 14.41 billion Korean won, equivalent to about $9.8 million. On average, each South Korean official with crypto assets holds approximately 35.07 million Korean won ($23,927).
The public official with the largest cryptocurrency holdings is Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young. In her asset disclosure, she reported a total of $1.76 billion Korean won ($1.2 million) invested across 16 different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Ripple (XRP).
Councilor Kim personally holds 0.0014 BTC, while her spouse has invested in 0.01 ETH, 472 DOGE, and 519,004 XRP. Additionally, her eldest son possesses 3,336 XRP.
This marks the second consecutive year that South Korean public officials have been required to disclose virtual assets in their financial statements to the Government Public Ethics Committee. In May 2023, legislation was enacted mandating that public officials and political candidates reveal their cryptocurrency holdings.
Effective January 1, 2024, senior public officials in South Korea, including members of the National Assembly, are now obligated to report their cryptocurrency assets to the ethics committee. Public officials classified under Grade 4 must disclose both the quantity and type of cryptocurrency they hold. Meanwhile, those in the highest Grade 1 category must provide not only their asset details but also elaborate on how they obtained these crypto assets alongside their transaction history for the past year.