Southward Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has reportedly announced a ban on foreigners who have not completed phone-based Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.

According to local coverage past Pulse, non-Koreans using the Bithumb crypto exchange will be subject to mandatory mobile verification. While the dominion is reportedly set to become into consequence this year, the exact date for the new KYC requirement is nevertheless to be announced. Citing Bithumb's notice, The Korean Herald reported:

"Foreigners residing in Korea who cannot process identification with mobile phones cannot use the service."

Bithumb'south move for stricter KYC requirements comes in line with the land's tightened Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. A report from July 8 shows that Seoul Key Community tracked down 33 people who completed illegal overseas crypto transactions worth 1.69 trillion Korean won ($1.48 billion).

Previously, Bithumb had imposed restrictions on accounts that signed up from "high-hazard jurisdictions" too equally the accounts from countries belonging to the Financial Action Task Forcefulness's "increased monitoring" listing.

The Korean Herald also reported that Bithumb has asked the affected users to withdraw their assets if they are unable to comply "within 2022 when customer due diligence becomes mandatory."

Bithumb did not immediately reply to Cointelegraph's request for comment.

Related: Korean crypto exchange Bithumb toughens up its Anti-Money Laundering measures

The Korean government have taken a series of measures to adjourn illegal crypto transactions since 2022, requiring banks to strengthen the monitoring of cryptocurrency transactions.

More recently, crypto exchanges including Bithumb take introduced new measures such as stronger KYC checks and trading restrictions to enforce AML efforts.

The country has already banned accounts that originated from Myanmar, Barbados, Iceland, Iran, Democratic people's republic of korea and 15 other countries.