South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) is pushing forward with a government-backed bill to regulate stablecoins , aiming to submit it by 2025. The proposal faces fierce competition—five competing bills from legislators are currently under review in the National Assembly. The Bank of Korea (BOK), which recently released a white paper on stablecoins, insists that issuance should be bank-led to maintain trust, stating that "the function of money is built on trust, not technology."
The FSC argues that stablecoins fall under the jurisdiction of virtual assets, claiming licensing and exchange oversight authority. Policy analyst Sejin Kim points out that most legislative proposals favor licensing for private issuers, while the BOK opposes them due to concerns about financial instability. Attorney Jeongh Wan JK Kim observes that existing legislation does not fully align with the vision of either the FSC or the BOK, resulting in regulatory ambiguity.
President Lee Jae-myung also expressed concern about South Korean investors' exposure to cryptocurrency volatility, suggesting widespread anxiety in the market. This debate reflects the tension between global innovation and control, with South Korea's "kimchi premium" now extending to the stablecoin market.
