South Korea has a large, domestically focused banking and capital markets sector regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and supervised by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). It has one of the most active retail crypto-asset markets in the world, regulated through AML reporting to the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) and a dedicated user protection act since July 2024.
Risk flagStandard
FATFNot listed
EU AML high-risk listNot listed
EU tax listNot listed
Licence regimes7
CurrencyKRW
S&P ratingAA
Next electionApril 2028
Not on the FATF grey or black lists after the June 2026 plenary, not on the EU high-risk third country list (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 as amended, latest by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/46), and not on Annex I of the EU tax list updated 17 February 2026. Checked 7 October 2026.
Government and politics
Government
Presidential republic
President
Lee Jae-myung · since June 2025
President (Prime Minister Han Seong-sook since 2026-07)
Lee Jae-myung (Democratic Party of Korea)
Governing parties
Democratic Party of Korea
Last election
Presidential snap election, 3 June 2025
Next election
National Assembly election, April 2028. Next presidential election due 2030
Legislature
National Assembly (unicameral, 300 seats)
Legal system
Civil law system with Anglo-American influences
Economy and finance
Population
51.7m (2025)
GDP
USD 1.9tn (2025)
GDP per person
USD 36,227 (2025)
Currency
South Korean won (KRW), floating
Central bank
Bank of Korea
Credit rating
S&P AA (stable) · Moody's Aa2 (stable) · Fitch AA- (stable) (as of April 2026)
A high-income, export-led industrial economy anchored by semiconductors, cars, shipbuilding and electronics conglomerates, with Seoul a regional banking and capital markets centre.
Bank
Banking business authorisation (commercial bank)
Minimum capitalUSD 74.4m
TimelineNot published
AuthorityFSC
KRW 100 billion minimum capital; KRW 25 billion for a regional bank; must be maintained after authorisation
Law
Banking Act, arts 8 and 9
Passporting
No passporting
Key requirements
Appropriate plan for raising funds and a sound business plan
Shareholding plan compliant with ownership limits (including limits on non-financial business operators)
Major shareholders with sufficient investment capacity, sound finances and social credibility
Promoters and officers qualified under the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies
Sufficient staff, premises, IT systems and other facilities
Registration for issuing and managing prepaid electronic payment means
Minimum capitalUSD 1.5m
TimelineNot published
AuthorityFSC
Capital of at least KRW 2 billion, or a higher amount set by Presidential Decree for the type of business (same floor applies to electronic funds transfer and debit electronic payment means)
Law
Electronic Financial Transactions Act, arts 28(2) and 30(2)
Passporting
No passporting
Key requirements
Commercial Act company or special-law entity
Exemptions for single-merchant instruments and issuers below thresholds set by decree
Staff, IT systems and financial soundness standards
At least KRW 300 million (amount set by decree) for small operators within the FSC's quarterly volume limit of up to KRW 3 billion; at least KRW 500 million (amount set by decree) for others
Law
Electronic Financial Transactions Act, arts 28(2)(iv) and 30(3)
Passporting
No passporting
Key requirements
Commercial Act company or Civil Act corporation
Small operators exceeding the volume limit for two quarters must top up capital
Pure information-relay PG services are exempt from registration
AuthorityKorea Financial Intelligence Unit (Commissioner of KoFIU)
Law
Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, art 7; Virtual Asset User Protection Act (Act No. 19563, in force 19 July 2024)
Passporting
No passporting
Key requirements
Information security management system (ISMS) certification
Real-name verified deposit and withdrawal accounts with a bank, for exchanges handling KRW
No disqualifying convictions of the business, its representative, officers or major shareholders in the past 5 years
Customer deposits held separately at a bank; customer virtual assets segregated, with a set share kept offline
Insurance or reserves against hacking and system failures
Financial Services Commission (FSC) · websitebanks, E-money institutions, Payment service providers, Investment firms, FX brokers, Virtual asset service providers (VASPs)
Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) · websitebanks, E-money institutions, Payment service providers, Investment firms, FX brokers, Virtual asset service providers (VASPs)
Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) · websiteVirtual asset service providers (VASPs)
No separate FX broker licence: retail FX margin trading is a derivatives business carried on by authorised financial investment companies under the FSCMA. The minimum equity capital figures for each FSCMA authorisation unit are in Annex 1 of the FSCMA Enforcement Decree, which we could not extract; left null. Gaming: there is no online gambling licence; gambling is a criminal offence except for state-authorised activities (lotteries, horse, cycle and boat racing, sports toto) and licensed casinos, of which only Kangwon Land admits Korean nationals. Virtual assets: the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect one year after promulgation on 18 July 2023; the KoFIU reporting regime (since 2021) is a registration-style report, not a licence, and Korean won stablecoin legislation was under discussion but not confirmed as enacted as of 2026-10-07. Statutory texts were read in Korean on the National Law Information Center (law.go.kr).
General information
About South Korea
Natural Earth boundaries. Map is indicative.
Status
Sovereign state
Capital
Seoul
Area
99,720 km²
Official languages
Korean
Time zone
UTC+09:00
Main exports
integrated circuits
cars
refined petroleum
plastics
machine parts
Main export partners
China
United States
Hong Kong
Japan
Taiwan
Sources for the country information(8)
Country information checked 9 October 2026. Licensing data updated 7 October 2026. Information only, not legal advice; requirements change. Regulatory notice.
