20% of South Korean Officials Hold Crypto, Seoul Councilor Leads with $1.16M

A recent asset disclosure by South Korea’s Public Officials Virtual Assets Rank List revealed that 20.1% of high-ranking public officials hold crypto, with their total reported holdings amounting to $9.83 million.

The official with the largest virtual asset portfolio was Seoul City Council Member Kim Hye-young, who declared $1.16 million in digital assets.

The Rankings

The March 27 report revealed that of the 2,047 state officers required to disclose their holdings, 411 reported owning virtual assets, with an average holding of $23,000 per person. Kim Hye-young topped the list, declaring ownership of 16 different cryptocurrencies, including 0.00144591 BTC.

The government official also reported assets held by her family members, including her spouse’s 0.01226935 ETH, 472 DOGE, 519,004 XRP, and her eldest son’s 3,336 XRP.

Seoul City Councilor Choi Min-gyu came in second, reporting $1.06 million in digital assets, consisting of approximately 409,551 XRP, 9,402 ART, and 4,701 ADS. The third-largest holding was declared by Kim Ki-hwan, CEO of Busan-Ulsan Expressway Co., Ltd., who has $940,000 in crypto, including 152,251 LUNC, 5,979 HORUS, 1,989 HORUS, and 2,989 BLACK.

Other civil servants among the top ten crypto holders included Kim Dae-hwan, Secretary General of the Labor-Management Development Foundation, with $1.369 million, Oh Moon-kyo, President of the Korean National Police University, with $656,680, and Park Chun, President of Jeonju National University of Education, with $461,250.

Also listed were Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly Members Choi Yong, holding $431,110, and Lee Oh-soo, with $288,150, along with Ryu Hyeong-ju, Vice President of the Korea Water Resources Corporation ($324,530), and Park Yong-seon, Gyeongsangbuk-do Assemblyman, who owns $270,350 in crypto.

Crypto Disclosure Policy and Market Growth

Virtual assets became a mandatory item in public servants’ asset disclosures last year, with this being the second year such data has been released.

Under the policy, officials of Grade 4 or higher must declare the type and quantity of virtual assets they own. Grade 1 workers or higher must also submit details on how they acquired their holdings and their transaction history for the past year.

These measures, led by the Government Public Ethics Committee, were implemented as South Korea experienced an increase in crypto ownership. A report from November 2024 indicated that more than 15.5 million of its citizens, approximately 30% of the population, held digital assets. The number of investors also rose by 610,000 between October and November 2024.