**[South Korea FIU Imposes $24.6 Million Fine and 6-Month Suspension on Bithumb]** According to Foresight News, citing Yonhap TV, South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has decided to impose a partial business suspension for six months and a fine of 36.8 billion Korean won (approximately $24.6 million) on the virtual asset exchange Bithumb due to violations of anti-money laundering (AML) obligations. During an on-site inspection conducted between March and April last year, FIU discovered approximately 6.65 million violations of the Specific Financial Information Act by Bithumb, including 45,772 transactions with 18 unregistered overseas virtual asset operators and around 6.59 million cases of breaches related to customer identification (KYC) and transaction restriction obligations. The partial suspension period will run from March 27 to September 26. During this time, transactions by existing users will not be affected, but new users will face restrictions on transferring virtual assets externally (deposit and withdrawal). Additionally, Bithumb's representative director will receive a "reprimand warning," and the person responsible for reporting will face a six-month suspension.