South Korean Parties Back Stablecoin Push, Promise Fast-Track Digital Asset Law After Local Elections

South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties called fostering the domestic stablecoin market an urgent priority, pledging to fast-track a digital asset framework law after local elections.

At a May 12 seminar at the National Assembly in Seoul on global stablecoin trends and opportunities for South Korea’s digital economy, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon said the country’s digital-asset market had grown through the efforts of startups. But the government had taken an overly regulatory approach and failed to open the way at the right time, he said, adding that policies tailored to market conditions are needed.

Kim also said there is support within the ruling party to put the Framework Act on Digital Assets before a legislative review committee as soon as the local elections end. Even if the government does not submit its own bill, lawmakers should move quickly to create a system for fostering digital assets based on bills already introduced, he added.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Kang-il said global interest is rising in digital assets and stablecoins that fit with the AI industry and the digital-finance environment. He pledged to do his utmost to ensure the digital asset framework law passes this year.

Lawmakers also outlined how stablecoins could be developed. Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byung-duk said stablecoins are financial infrastructure linking payments, remittances, inter-institutional settlement, real-world asset tokenization and agent commerce. To respond to dollar-denominated stablecoins, South Korea should launch a won-based stablecoin, he said.

Specific use cases discussed at the event included ties to the K-content industry and models for regional commercial districts. Min said a won-based stablecoin would not be merely a defensive tool, but a way to broaden the won’s use in digital environments and connect real transactions and industries in the Korean economy more efficiently.