South Korean financial authorities are gearing up to sanction crypto exchanges operating illegally in the country, as business newspaper Hankyung reported on Friday.

The report reveals that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has pinpointed several exchanges, not registered as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), as prime targets for these sanctions.

Specifically, the exchanges in question—BitMEX, KuCoin, CoinW, Bitunix, and KCEX—are accused of running Korean-language websites and targeting local users without registering with the FIU. This failure to register puts them in the category of illegal operations under South Korean regulations.

According to the report, an FIU official stated, “We are currently exploring blocking access to these unregistered foreign exchanges that offer services to Korean investors, in consultation with the Korea Communications Standards Commission.”

The official further added, “We’re gathering data on user damages and related information to improve coordination between authorities, and we anticipate seeing concrete actions within the year.”

CoinDesk reached out to BitMEX, KuCoin, and CoinW for comment, but has not received a response as of yet.

This isn’t the first sign of stricter regulation in the South Korean crypto space. Just last month, local exchange Upbit faced a three-month ban on new customer asset transfers due to regulatory compliance issues.

Read More: Crypto Exchange Bithumb Raided by South Korean Prosecutors Over Embezzlement Allegations: Report