South Korea will launch a special investigation into cryptocurrency price manipulation and plans to introduce punitive fines for IT incidents.

PANews reported on February 9th that, according to Yonhap News Agency, the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea announced its 2026 business plan, outlining a series of enhanced regulatory measures for the virtual asset market. The Financial Supervisory Service will conduct special investigations into high-risk areas that disrupt market order, focusing on combating typical manipulation tactics such as "whale"-style market manipulation, "net cage" methods, and "horse racing" methods, as well as improper trading that uses API orders or social media to spread false information. Simultaneously, it will develop artificial intelligence analysis tools to perform second- and minute-level analysis of abnormally surging virtual asset prices, automatically identifying suspicious trading intervals and groups.

To prevent financial IT incidents, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) will introduce a punitive penalty system and strengthen the security responsibilities of CEOs and Chief Information Security Officers. In addition, a comprehensive monitoring system will be officially launched to collect and disseminate information on cyber threats in the financial sector. The FSC has also established a Preparatory Group for the Introduction of the "Digital Asset Basic Law" to support the effective implementation of the secondary legislation on virtual assets. The Preparatory Group will develop a disclosure system related to the issuance and trading of virtual assets and develop a licensing and review manual for digital asset business operators and stablecoin issuers.