"Democratic Party steps up coordination on stablecoin legislation… aiming for National Assembly passage in March"

The Democratic Party of Korea is accelerating efforts to advance legislative discussions on stablecoins in earnest, aiming to secure passage at a National Assembly plenary session within March.

According to the industry on the 20th, the Democratic Party’s Digital Assets Task Force (TF) held a closed-door meeting that day at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss a unified ruling-party proposal for the Basic Act on Digital Assets—covering stablecoins—as well as a second-phase legislative package. With the preparation of a single government proposal delayed due to differences with relevant agencies such as the Financial Services Commission and the Bank of Korea, the party plans to first consolidate views within the ruling party.

Rep. Lee Jung-moon, chair of the TF, said that regardless of whether the government submits a bill, the party will organize the key issues based on existing bills introduced by lawmakers and prepare a unified ruling-party proposal. Rep. Ahn Do-geol, the TF’s secretary, also said he will finalize coordination of the differences between the government’s proposal and the ruling-party proposal and compile the legislation.

The key points of contention currently are the issuer of stablecoins and governance structure. The Financial Services Commission has proposed allowing issuance initially only by consortia in which banks hold a majority stake (50%+1 share), citing stability at the early stage of introducing the system. The FSC also maintains that the ownership stake of major shareholders in digital asset exchanges should be capped at 15~20%, in line with the level applied to alternative trading systems under the Capital Markets Act.

However, the ruling party opposes the plan, arguing it could constrain market competition and private-sector innovation. The meeting reportedly focused on narrowing internal differences, particularly on issuer eligibility requirements and whether to adopt a consensus-based structure.

The Democratic Party is said to plan to proceed with the legislative process with March set as the target timing for handling the bills at the plenary session.