You are certainly correct. This news from South Korea has been blown out of proportions. There is nothing new with a country imposing this kind of regulation. In the past, exchanges have already implemented their own KYC protocols maybe in advance for the time when the government will be requiring members to do so. And the same thing procedure is done when someone would want to get involved with other investment tools like stocks, forex, derivatives, etc. etc. There is nothing new here...actually!
We should be welcoming such measure because this is the best way to weed out unscrupulous scammers from operating their business in the world of cryptocurrency. This is a legitimate concern that must be addressed by the government and that all participants in the industry have to seriously follow. Not to mention other serious matters like money laundering, terrorism and other illegal acts. I am not saying that there is a solid evidence for criminals really using cryptocurrency but prevention is always better than cure.
Rather than the BIG BAN, what South Korea is doing right now is something we have to thank for and not something we should be afraid. Only those people who are hiding something are afraid of the light. I know that cryptocurrency is supposedly anonymous but there is nothing we can do but do some compromise with the government because the other choice will be what is happening right now in China -- they are still into cryptocurrency but not openly.