South Korea Seeks New State Assets Law to Bring Digital Assets Under Management

South Korea is seeking to enact a Basic State Assets Law in a sweeping overhaul of its state-asset management system, the first such revamp in 76 years. The plan would bring new asset classes, including digital assets, into the national asset-management framework.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a policy briefing at the Blue House state guest house that it will push to replace the State Property Act, enacted in 1950, with the new law, according to a July 15 News1 report. The ministry said the current legal framework makes it difficult to systematically manage newly emerging assets such as intellectual property and digital assets.

Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said state assets should no longer be viewed simply as holdings to retain or manage. The government will work to maximize their value and create national wealth, he said.

The government plans to upgrade management systems for new asset classes, including digital assets, and build an AI-based database to improve the efficiency of state-asset management. It also plans to conduct a full survey of state property every year instead of once every five years and strengthen audits of asset management.

The government is also pursuing a plan to securitize state-owned real estate in the form of tokenized securities, or STOs, and share the investment returns with the public. Koo said AI and blockchain will be applied to treasury funds, government bonds and state property to build what he described as world-class management of public funds and state-owned assets.