South Korean court has decided to back the decision of a bank operating in the nation that fired an employee for allegedly indulging in gambling via crypto games.
According to local media reports, the employee was “habitually” playing cryptocurrency games and indulging in gambling via those games and therefore Seoul Administrative Court “ruled in the bank’s favor” in a case concerning a dismissal that occurred in 2022.
Interestingly, the court’s support for the bank comes at a time when South Korea is increasingly trying to bring more regulations and watch over its crypto sector.
South Korean Court Sides With Bank Over Employee Playing Crypto Games
The employee had allegedly been gambling money via the crypto games. In South Korea, cryptocurrency gambling is termed illegal according to the nations law’s. Therefore, a lot of South Korean gamers make use of foreign platforms and servers for gambling.
According to reports, the former worker started at the bank in 1997. At one of the bank’s branches, the person was eventually elevated to the position of head of lending.
However, the reports have reframed from naming the bank as well as the name of the employee. The bank fired the worker after conducting an investigation into the matter in 2022.
Additionally, the employee “engaged in inappropriate private money lending” with the bank’s loan clients, according to the company’s internal audit.
The bank asserted, however, that the worker was a “habitual gambler” who engaged in online gambling games where cryptocurrency is used as in-game currency.
South Korea Sees Rise In Crypto Crackdown and Regulations
The South Korean crypto market is one the largest across the globe when more than half of the young teenage population showing interest in the digital asset world.
However, with this rise, South Korean government is now very keen on regulating the sector properly and ensuring safety of its population.
Just recently, due to the volatility following the US presidential election, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has made the decision to increase its market surveillance activities.
The organization has directed the FSS staff to increase their oversight of stocks and virtual assets, including Bitcoin, that have a Trump theme in light of this review.
The authorities have pledged to implement stringent measures, exhibiting “zero tolerance,” upon detecting any unfair trading practices, such as price manipulation, insider trading, or the dissemination of rumors.
Additionally, the South Korean government was in process of enacting new rules to keep an eye on international cryptocurrency transactions. The measure came as an effort to combat tax evasion and illicit foreign exchange activities. This new requirement aims to prevent illicit financial activities because it has been claimed that cross-border cryptocurrency transactions have become a “blind spot” for tax and customs enforcement.