Financial authorities plan to tighten anti-money laundering regulations ahead of next year's assessment of South Korea by an intergovernmental organization set up to combat illicit movement of funds, officials said Sunday.

The Financial Action Task Force, a body established with the mission of clamping down on money laundering, will conduct its assessment on South Korean efforts in 2019.

The FATF has also strengthened rules to stamp out money laundering as the liberalization of markets and popularity of cryptocurrencies fuel the rapid expansion of the money laundering industry around the world, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit said in a statement.

"There is the need for us to improve our anti-money laundering system to meet international standards already in force in other countries," said the KFIU, which is in charge of combating money laundering and other financial crimes.

Currently, South Korea's anti-money laundering laws do not cover nonfinancial professionals such as lawyers and accountants.

A bill has been proposed to include nonfinancial professionals under anti-money laundering laws, the KFIU said. (Yonhap)