[South Korea to Launch Special Investigation into Cryptocurrency Price Manipulation and Introduce Punitive Fines for IT Incidents] PANews, February 9 – According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced its 2026 business plan today, revealing a series of enhanced regulatory measures for the virtual asset market. The FSS will conduct special investigations into high-risk areas that disrupt market order, focusing on cracking down on typical manipulative behaviors such as 'whale-style' price manipulation, 'wash trading,' and 'pump-and-dump' schemes. It will also target improper trading practices, such as spreading false information via API orders or social media. Additionally, the FSS plans to develop AI analysis tools to conduct second-level and minute-level analyses of abnormally surging virtual assets, automatically identifying suspicious trading intervals and groups. To prevent financial IT incidents, the FSS will introduce a punitive fine system and strengthen the security responsibilities of CEOs and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). Furthermore, a comprehensive monitoring system will be officially implemented to collect and disseminate cybersecurity threat information in the financial sector. The FSS has also established a preparatory group for the introduction of the 'Basic Act on Digital Assets' to support the effective implementation of secondary legislation for virtual assets. The preparatory group will formulate a disclosure system related to virtual asset issuance and trading support and develop a licensing review manual for digital asset business operators and stablecoin issuers.