Democratic Party to push bill for Digital Assets Framework Act in early February…single draft takes shape as government proposal delayed

As the government’s submission of its draft Digital Assets Framework Act remains delayed, the Democratic Party of Korea has decided to proceed with legislation centered on a bill it prepared on its own. The approach is to include provisions establishing a legal basis for stablecoin issuance—a key issue—while pushing potentially contentious regulatory clauses down the priority list.

According to the industry on the 20th, the Democratic Party’s Digital Assets Task Force (TF) held a plenary meeting at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building and began work on consolidating five digital-asset-related bills separately introduced by its lawmakers into a single bill. The TF is aiming to introduce the unified bill in early next month.

Lee Jeong-moon, head of the party’s Digital Assets TF, said in a post-meeting press briefing, “We asked the government for its draft starting in October last year, but it has not been submitted even by the end of January,” adding, “We can no longer wait only for government legislation, so we plan to finalize a unified TF-level draft and introduce it in early February.”

At the core of the unified bill is “integrated legislation” that includes a framework for stablecoin oversight. The TF set as a basic principle the inclusion of both stablecoins and the regulatory system for non-security virtual assets in a single bill. However, it also left open the option of prioritizing only the stablecoin-related clauses if disputes expand.

Rep. Ahn Do-geol said, “An integrated act that encompasses the entire ecosystem is desirable,” but added, “Given the pace of legislation, we can also consider phased handling if necessary.” This is seen as an effort to minimize regulatory gaps as stablecoin use expands rapidly in global markets.

Regarding eligible issuers, discussions moved toward allowing participation not only by banks but also by corporations that meet certain requirements. Within the TF, a consensus is said to have formed on balancing industry development with financial stability.

By contrast, high-intensity regulatory provisions long emphasized by financial authorities—such as limits on major shareholders’ stakes in exchanges or fit-and-proper reviews of major shareholders—are widely expected to be excluded from the unified bill. The concern is that including such issues could delay the legislative timetable due to conflicts of interest.

Lee explained, “The monopolization issue is important, but many felt there is not enough time to address everything at this stage of legislation,” adding, “We will consider step-by-step supplementation in a market-friendly manner.”

The Democratic Party plans to organize the remaining issues through an additional meeting on the 27th, then finalize a unified draft at the party-policy level after a policy committee report at the end of this month. It aims to step up deliberations in the National Policy Committee during the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

However, bipartisan coordination is expected to be a key variable in the bill’s passage. With the People Power Party currently holding the chair of the National Policy Committee, and with a late submission of the government’s draft likely to make detailed coordination unavoidable, there are also signs within the Democratic Party that it is difficult to pin down the exact timing of passage.