"Democratic Party of Korea speeds up legislation of Korean-won stablecoin…aims to handle at the plenary session in March next year"

The ruling party is reportedly accelerating the legislative process by setting the passage timing for introducing a Korean-won stablecoin for March next year.

According to political circles on the 15th, the Democratic Party of Korea plans to submit the final bill related to Korean-won stablecoins in January next year, then aim for passage at the plenary session in March after going through the National Assembly procedures such as a deliberation period and review of system and wording. They intend to focus on coordinating contentious issues between the party and financial authorities until the end of the year.

Under the current National Assembly Act, new bills must undergo a minimum 20-day deliberation period before being submitted to a standing committee's plenary meeting, unless there are urgent or special reasons. Accordingly, if the Korean-won stablecoin bill is submitted in January, actual standing committee review would likely be possible only at the end of January or after February.

Even if it passes the Political Affairs Committee, the structure that requires approval by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's plenary meeting before submission to the plenary session is also cited as a factor limiting the legislative speed. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party is said to be determined not to let the bill processing extend beyond March.

Meanwhile, the delay from the original goal of passing the bill within the year stems from disagreements with the financial authorities. In particular, the party and financial authorities have not narrowed their differences over the issuer of the Korean-won stablecoin and the policy coordination structure that would oversee issuance and circulation.

The Democratic Party supports allowing private issuance to build a competitive system and encourage innovation, while the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission emphasize forming a stable market centered on banks and oppose that view.