가상자산을 활용한 보이스피싱 범죄의 실태와 자산동결제도 도입방안

In recent years, Virtual assets have grown as tools for investment and payment but are increasingly used to conceal criminal proceeds such as voice phishing and money laundering. Yet Korea’s related laws mandate only asset segregation and AML duties, without procedures for prompt asset freezing. This study, drawing on FATF Recommendations 4 and 15, advocates the legalization of a virtual asset freezing framework, justified on constitutional and international grounds. Major jurisdictions such as Japan, Singapore, and the EU already authorize regulators or courts to issue temporary suspension orders to VASPs. Although Korea requires over 80% of user assets to be stored in cold wallets, this remains a preventive safeguard rather than a mechanism for immediate transaction suspension. Accordingly, this study proposes a Triple-Layer Asset Freezing Model grounded in the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds, and the Capital Markets Act: (i) administrative freezing (FSC, KoFIU), (ii) judicial freezing (courts, prosecutors), and (iii) trust-based custody (licensed trustees). This model aligns with FATF standards and advances a victim-centered legal order. It demonstrates that institutionalizing a virtual asset freezing regime is not about expanding investigative powers but about ensuring victim recovery and restoring public trust. Through this framework, Korea’s system against virtual asset crimes can evolve into a three-tier structure of asset protection (custody), asset tracing (reporting), and asset control (freezing).