The miners of cryptocurrencies in South Korea could face difficulties when importing mining equipment after the government of South Korea introduced a resolution related to the entry of this type of equipment into the country.
This week, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) included the cryptocurrency mining equipment manufactured abroad on the list of items that need to comply with health and safety certifications before being imported legally into the country. According to a local media outlet, together with the cryptocurrency mining equipment, the KCS added another 291 products on the list, among which are drones and menstrual cups. The list now has 7382 products listed.
One of the first concerns expressed by the authorities was the high consume of electrical power by the mining equipment and the risks of fire that could derive from the use of such equipment. The authorities will continue to investigate the implications of using this equipment. The National Radio Research Agency will be in charge for this job in the future and will establish the necessary regulations based on the existing radio law and safety requirements on electronic goods.
The authorities are in favor of using alternative energy sources for the cryptocurrency mining operations, such as the Ocean Miner, a solution created to use the energy of the tides to mine cryptocurrencies.
According to the report published in a local newspaper, in the last trimester of 2017, around 454 cryptocurrency mining rigs were imported into South Korea, which triggered the alarm of the Korea Customs Service (KCS), because the estimated value of the mining rigs was around 1.3 billion Korean wons (more than one million dollars).
The increase of the mining activities in South Korea was also noted in the most important commercial zones of Seoul, the capital city of the country. There are around 20 buildings and around 5,000 shops selling electronic products in these zones. Some of the tenants concealed their cryptocurrency mining equipment, which led to the ban of the mining activities in the entire complex.
Likewise, at the beginning of this month, 14 people from 13 companies were arrested in South Korea for taking advantage of the cheap electricity to mine cryptocurrencies. Moreover, in August last year, one of the malls in Seoul prohibited the stores to mine cryptocurrencies due to fire concerns, because the mining equipment generates a lot of heat and this increases the risk of fire.
