Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Meets Fintech Startups: "Will Create Growth Opportunities Through Regulatory Reform"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated on the 5th that he would "create opportunities for growth centered on regulatory reform" during a meeting with fintech startup representatives.

Mayor Oh said at a roundtable discussion held at Seoul Fintech Lab in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, "The political sphere and government should be faithful to their supporting role, but until now they have focused only on regulations like strict referees."

The meeting was attended by representatives from nine fintech startups including GhostPass, BeHappy, WhatSub, Yudongsan, CrossHub, PenVentures Korea, Fractal FN, HiKaiv, Hooshy Partners, as well as officials from the Financial Supervisory Service and Korea Fintech Industry Association.

Mayor Oh said, "Until now, the structure has been to prohibit everything and allow only a few exceptions," adding, "We should only set the rule that 'you can't go outside the field lines' and let people run freely otherwise." This means introducing a 'comprehensive negative regulation' system that allows new technologies and products first, and regulates them only when necessary.

He also mentioned, "For South Korea to become a true fintech powerhouse, financial policies that strengthen the global competitiveness of the entire financial industry must be pursued together," adding that "Yeouido should be designated as a financial regulatory free zone."

Earlier that day, Mayor Oh also expressed his position that the virtual asset market should be fostered. He posted on Facebook, "While many countries are embracing virtual assets as a key to financial innovation, Korea still remains in a conservative regulatory stance," adding, "We must now recognize virtual assets as a new growth engine and actively foster them."

Reporter Kwon Yong-hoon fact@hankyung.com