Experts at a National Assembly forum held on 2026-04-03 criticized the South Korean government's plan to implement a virtual asset income tax in January 2027 due to gaps in current tax laws and insufficient execution infrastructure. ^[1] Professor Park Jong-soo, President of the Korean Tax Law Society, proposed a new 'Virtual Asset Investment Income Tax' that categorizes income by economic substance rather than the current 'miscellaneous income' classification. ^[2] The South Korean government plans to enforce a tax on digital asset (virtual asset) transfer and lending income starting January 1, 2027. ^[3] Professor Kim Kap-soon from Dongguk University argued that classifying virtual assets as miscellaneous income was a mechanical adoption of an IFRIC decision regarding intangible assets rather than a sound tax policy. ^[4] The virtual asset income tax was originally scheduled for 2022 but was delayed three times to 2023, 2025, and finally January 1, 2027, due to concerns over infrastructure and user protection systems. ^[5] A roundtable discussion on the digital asset tax system was held on September 3 at the National Assembly, where participants criticized the current system's flaws. ^[6] Industry experts and academia are arguing that the tax should be suspended or abolished due to unclear standards and a lack of enforcement infrastructure. ^[7] Professor Park Jong-soo of Korea University's Graduate School of Law stated that the current system fails to reflect diverse transaction types such as mining, staking, and liquidity provision. ^[8]