The Democratic Party of Korea on the 24th officially launched a digital asset task force (TF), kicking off a legislative drive on virtual assets. It set the institutionalization of a won-based stablecoin as a core task and plans to complete related legislation this year.
The Democratic Party held a TF inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly that morning and began full-fledged activities. The ceremony was attended by policy chief Han Jeong-ae; Rep. Lee Jeong-moon, who serves as TF Chairperson; and Rep. Ahn Do-geol, the TF secretary, among others, who laid out the direction for future activities.
Policy chief Han Jeong-ae said, "The number of virtual asset investors has surpassed 7 million, and the average transaction amount is at least 6 trillion won and tops out at more than 20 trillion won," adding, "Multi-asset investors who invest in coins alongside stocks have already become mainstream."
Referring to U.S. President Trump recently allowing virtual currencies to be included in retirement accounts through an executive order, Han said, "The global financial market is changing more steeply, and virtual assets are going through a mainstreaming process in financial markets." Han added, "With the launch of the TF, we need to prepare reasonable systems that keep pace with technological innovation across various fields related to virtual assets and the flow of new financial markets."
Rep. Lee Jeong-moon also said, "The world is swept up in a boom for blockchain and digital assets, and digital assets stand at the center of global financial markets," adding, "It is time for Korea's financial market to make swift choices amid a rapidly changing global environment."
Lee then set the regular year-end National Assembly session as the deadline for related legislation. "Through the 2025 regular session and the year-end session, we will work toward enacting laws related to digital assets," the lawmaker said. Lee particularly said, "We must protect the Republic of Korea's monetary sovereignty against U.S. dollar-based stablecoins and the digital asset policies of competitor countries," adding, "We will establish a won-based stablecoin policy."
Lee also emphasized, "We will prepare policies to protect financial consumers and ensure financial stability, recognize the digital asset market as a new paradigm in Korea's financial market, and craft policies to develop it into a future growth engine."
The Democratic Party believes the current system is focused only on operator regulation and investor protection, and it plans to prepare a bill that encompasses virtual asset issuance and distribution, stablecoins, and more. Five bills related to stablecoins are currently pending at the National Assembly. Regulatory proposals vary, from setting a paid-in capital requirement for issuers at 500 million won to 5 billion won, to introducing an issuer licensing system and supervising virtual asset service providers. The TF plans to整理 previously introduced bills and produce a single, effective proposal.
The TF also plans to communicate with government ministries such as the Financial Services Commission while broadly gathering opinions from digital asset experts, fintech operators, the financial sector, and exchange officials. If party-government consultations proceed smoothly, there is an outlook that legislation could be pushed within the year.