South Korea’s Democratic Party Pushes Blockchain Framework Law, Lawmaker Calls for Cross-Ministry Governance

South Korea’s Democratic Party has begun pushing to enact a Framework Act on Blockchain. Industry calls for legal clarity to foster the country’s blockchain sector are also growing.

Lee Ju-hee, a member of the Democratic Party’s Digital Asset Task Force, said at a National Assembly policy seminar in Yeouido, Seoul, on May 12 that the institutional groundwork for promoting blockchain has yet to be fully put in place. Overseas, discussions on regulatory frameworks for blockchain and digital assets are continuing, she said.

South Korea can no longer delay institutional debate that reflects technological change and industry demand, Lee said in congratulatory remarks at the seminar, titled “National Assembly Policy Seminar for a Leap Toward a Global Leader in Digital Trust Infrastructure.”

The proposed law is intended to provide greater legal clarity for blockchain and support the related industry. Unlike the Basic Digital Asset Act being pursued by the Financial Services Commission and the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, the blockchain bill is being prepared mainly by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.

Lee again stressed the need for a blockchain framework law. Legal uncertainty often hinders companies and public institutions from expanding services and moving to commercialization even when they seek to adopt the technology. The law should establish institutional foundations for reliability standards and user protections while promoting blockchain use in both the public and private sectors, she said.

Lee also called for a cross-ministry governance structure to systemize blockchain policy. Such a framework should coordinate policies now scattered across ministries and support a broad agenda including industry surveys, workforce training, public procurement and overseas expansion, she said.

Experts at the seminar made similar points. Kwon Oh-hoon, managing partner at Cha & Kwon Law Office, said distributed ledgers, smart contracts and decentralized identity, or DID, fall under the overlapping jurisdiction of multiple ministries. That leaves clear limits on having a single ministry handle both legislation and policy execution, he said. A broader governance design is needed to ensure policy consistency and speed, he added.

The government also expressed support for enacting a framework law. Park Ji-hyun, director of the Digital Society Planning Division at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said at the seminar that blockchain can be applied in a range of fields including DID and local currencies. South Korea needs to build an institutional foundation so blockchain technology itself can grow outside finance as well, Park said. For blockchain companies, predictability is critical, and any framework law should take into account the Financial Services Commission’s regulatory and legislative work on digital assets, he added.