South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance launches pan-government task force to crack down on illegal foreign exchange transactions

South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance, working with the National Intelligence Service, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Bank of Korea and Financial Supervisory Service, has launched an Illegal Foreign Exchange Transactions Response Task Force to strengthen joint enforcement against activity deemed to disrupt the foreign exchange market and economic order. The task force is designed to pool investigative capabilities across agencies and focus on identifying cross-border flows of illegal funds. Priority areas include hawala-style payments that bypass authorised foreign exchange banks, overseas asset flight through manipulation of export and import prices and false reporting, and offshore tax evasion and money laundering that exploit foreign exchange transaction procedures, with the authorities aiming to reduce enforcement blind spots through enhanced information sharing.