▲ Park Wan-ju, Chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee


The Democratic Party of Korea is pursuing a plan to suspend the government's virtual asset taxation, which is scheduled to be implemented next year, for one year.



From January next year, the government plans to classify the income earned from the transfer of virtual assets as 'other income' similar to lottery winnings, deduct 2.5 million won, and impose a 20% tax rate on income above that.



At a press conference at the National Assembly today (2nd), Park Wan-joo, chairman of the Democratic Party's policy committee, said, "The party is considering delaying (taxation)."



Chairman Park said, "The government is in a position to defend the original draft until now, but sooner or later, the party government or the standing committee will reveal the main direction and start discussions."




Kim Byung-wook, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, also held a press conference at the National Assembly today and said, "It is reasonable to make a law within this year, prepare it next year, and tax the income from 2023."



He pointed out, "The government is pushing forward unilaterally in a situation where the concept of virtual assets has not been properly established and there is no related law. It took 60 years for the stock market to formally establish a taxation plan."



Referring to the Virtual Property Industry Rights Act, which is being prepared by the ruling party, Rep. Kim said, "We are in working-level discussions with the Financial Services Commission. We know that the opposition will come up with a bill, so we will review the bills from the opposition parties and pass the relevant bill as soon as possible." .



Rep. Kim, a former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, responded positively to the possibility that the suspension of taxation of virtual assets would be reflected in Lee's pledge, saying, "The possibility is open."



In an interview with the media in May, Candidate Lee expressed his position that the taxation of virtual assets should be delayed by one year, saying, "It is necessary to coincide with the year 2023, when the taxation of gains on stock transfers begins."



(Photo = National Assembly Photo Reporters, Yonhap News)