Will Chang Yong Rhee Discuss Stablecoins With Bank CEOs... Attention on the Dinner Meeting on the 23rd

Chang Yong Rhee, Governor of the Bank of Korea, will meet with commercial bank CEOs at the end of this month. As discussions around issuing a won-based stablecoin have recently accelerated, particularly among political circles, attention is focused on whether this topic will be addressed during the dinner meeting.

According to the financial industry on the 11th, Governor Rhee will have dinner with commercial bank CEOs following the regular board meeting of the Korea Federation of Banks, which will be held on the 23rd at the Bankers' Club in Jung-gu, Seoul. Park Jong-woo, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea, is also scheduled to attend and is expected to share views on monetary policy and financial market issues.

Governor Rhee has recently increased his frequency of contact with commercial banks. In mid-last month, he personally visited the six major banks—KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, and Industrial Bank of Korea—and held 30-minute meetings with each. On the 26th of last month, immediately after his meeting with Tim Adams, President and CEO of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), he called in commercial bank CEOs to share discussions on digital currency-related topics such as Project Han River and the Agora Project.

This series of meetings is interpreted as an effort to speed up policy responses amid changing domestic and international environments regarding stablecoins. In particular, on the 10th, Min Byung-deok, a lawmaker from The Minjoo Party of Korea, proposed the “Digital Asset Basic Act,” which centers on the issuance of a won-based stablecoin, expanding the discussion throughout the political sphere.

The proposed bill includes provisions to relax the minimum capital required of stablecoin issuers from ₩5 billion to ₩500 million and allow non-bank fintech companies to issue won-based stablecoins. This differs from the previous stance of the Bank of Korea, which has maintained a cautious approach toward issuance by non-bank entities out of concern for potential harm to the effectiveness of monetary policy and financial stability.