South Korean politicians are back to their routine word games.

A ruling-party lawmaker came out calling for a delay, saying the basic law has not even been properly established and the tax is being rushed. Meanwhile, the finance minister immediately took the opposite stance, saying the tax should be paid as scheduled next year and that 85% of retail investors do not even reach the threshold, so what is there to worry about?
Does this script look familiar? From 2022 all the way to 2027, it is always the same: first introduce a policy imposing a 20% tax to push retail investors over the edge, then lawmakers act like the good guys and call for a delay to win votes, and finally the finance minister plays the bad cop. Every so often, they have to run everyone through this routine again.
The reality boils down to two things:
First, they cannot bear to give up the利益. Who does not know how huge the crypto-trading population is in South Korea? A tax-free allowance of 2.5 million won is laughably low, yet they still want to impose a hefty 20% tax. Even more absurdly, losses cannot be used as deductions. If this is really forced through, exchange liquidity will be drained by more than half and retail investors will collectively flee overseas.
Second, the system is completely impractical. How will profits from overseas exchanges be investigated? How will on-chain DEX activity be tracked? How will cross-chain lending be classified? The infrastructure has not been built at all, and even DAXA is already anxiously jumping up and down.
This policy tug-of-war is actually a short-term positive for the broader market. Once politicians start bickering, there is a high chance the tax will struggle to take effect, and the South Korean premium can continue for a while in the short term.
No need to panic for now. After hearing the “wolf” cry so many times, it is not a big deal anymore. Keep holding the spot assets in hand and see how long these lawmakers can keep squabbling to win votes.
#加密货币 # South Korean crypto tax