South Korea Grants Upbit Direct Access to Government Identity Records

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety greenlit the access this month following an on-site inspection conducted in May. By connecting to the government’s joint-use network, Upbit can now cross-reference user data against official registries rather than relying solely on documents manually uploaded by customers. The company expects this transition to accelerate verification timelines and improve the overall accuracy of its know-your-customer procedures.

This approval arrives as Dunamu faces a complex landscape of regulatory oversight. In early 2025, the Financial Intelligence Unit flagged potential lapses in the exchange’s anti-money laundering controls, and the Financial Supervisory Service recently initiated a formal sanctions process regarding a significant wallet breach. While the new data access provides a technical boost to compliance efforts, it does not exempt the exchange from existing legal mandates. Simultaneously, Dunamu is managing a high-stakes corporate restructuring involving a planned share exchange with Naver Financial, a deal that has faced multiple delays and requests for disclosure corrections from financial watchdogs. Beyond its exchange operations, the firm has also deepened its ties to the public sector, recently securing a contract to manage seized digital assets for the National Police Agency.