A senior official in South Korea who has been developing policy measures against cryptomoney speculation was found dead at his home in Seoul, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported February 19.
The WSJ reports that the official was Jung Ki-joon, the 52-year-old head of economic policy at the Government's Policy Coordination Office. It was reported that Ki-joon died of a heart attack while sleeping on Sunday. February 18th.
In November 2017, the government of South Korea initiated weekly meetings of deputy ministers to regulate the operations of cryptomonniques. The deceased official was in charge of integrating the views of different ministries and offices for the meetings led by Hong Nam-ki, Minister of the Office of Government Policy Coordination.
The official's colleagues said he had been under extreme pressure over the past year because he was in a stressful position in charge of developing regulations against cryptomoney speculation.
The police initiated an investigation into the sudden death of the official, although it was described as natural.
South Korea, the world's largest market for kryptomoney, has experienced much confusion over kryptomoney policy. On 11 January, the Ministry of Justice proposed a ban on trading in coins and coins, which was later misinterpreted by some media as the announcement of an effective ban. The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance later reported that it did not agree with the proposal.
On February 14, the government of South Korea responded to an online petition against cryptomoney regulations. In a liberated statement, Hong Nam-ki stated that there would be no ban on trade in cryptomoney. However, he stressed that "the government is still divided with many opinions ranging from a direct ban on the cryptomoney trade to bringing coin-operated institutions into the system.