PANews reported on May 8th that, according to ZDNet, the South Korean government plans to tax virtual assets starting in January next year, but faces opposition from the opposition parties, increasing policy uncertainty. Moon Kyung-ho, head of the Income Tax Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, formally stated for the first time at a parliamentary debate that the government will proceed with the taxation of virtual assets as planned on January 1st next year, emphasizing that "any income must be taxed." Under the current tax law amendment, income exceeding 2.5 million won from the transfer or lending of virtual assets is subject to a 22% tax rate.

However, the opposition National Power Party argues that it is unfair to tax only virtual assets while abolishing the income tax on financial investments, and is pushing forward with a bill to abolish the income tax on virtual assets. This bill has been submitted to the Parliamentary Finance and Economic Planning Committee and will be discussed in the Tax Subcommittee. Analysts believe that, ahead of next year's local elections, the ruling party may participate in discussions on delaying or abolishing the tax in order to win over young voters.