Over 100 South Korean government officials collectively own cryptocurrencies valued at approximately 14.4 billion won

Out of the 2,047 South Korean civil servants who submitted their asset declarations, 20% have declared owning digital assets. Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young has the largest amount, with holdings worth 1.7 billion KRW.

According to a recent report by local media Munhwa, on March 27, the Government Public Ethics Committee made public the detailed report of personal assets held by the country's civil servants as of 2025. Based on information from the ethics watchdog, 411 out of 2,047 civil servants directly own or have invested in cryptocurrency.

This means that 20% of South Korean officials possess cryptocurrency, including the Secretary General of the Labor-Management Development Foundation, President of the Korean National Police University, and Vice President of the Korea Water Resources Corporation among others.

The combined value of crypto assets held by the 411 civil servants amounts to 14.41 billion Korean won or equivalent to $9.8 million. The report found that each South Korean official who owned crypto held an average of 35.07 million Korean won ($23,927).

The civil servant who holds the most funds in cryptocurrency is Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young. According to her asset disclosure, Kim reported holding $1.76 billion Korean won ($1.2 million) spread across 16 different types of crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP), and many more.

Councilor Kim herself holds 0.0014 BTC, while her husband invested in 0.01 ETH, 472 DOGE, and 519,004 XRP. Meanwhile, her eldest son holds 3,336 XRP.

The civil servant with the second-largest crypto holdings is another Seoul City Councilor named Choi Min-gyu. He reportedly holds a total of 1.6 billion Korean won ($1,09 million) in crypto assets. In third place is CEO of Busan-Ulsan Expressway Co., Kim Ki-hwan, with crypto holdings worth a total of 1.4 billion Korean won ($955,031).

This is the second year South Korean civil servants have been required to include virtual assets as part of their financial disclosures to the Government Public Ethics Committee. In May 2023, South Korean regulators passed a bill that mandated public officials and political candidates to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings.

Since it came into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, high-ranking public officials in South Korea, including National Assembly members, must abide by the bill and report their crypto holdings to the ethics committee.

Public officials categorized under Grade 4 must disclose the quantity and the type of cryptocurrency they hold. While high-ranking public officials categorized under Grade 1 must disclose not only their crypto holdings but also explain in detail how they acquired the crypto assets along with their transaction history throughout the past year.