The Democratic Party has unveiled a plan to nurture a won-based stablecoin as a strategic asset. The aim is to counter the digital financial order centered on the US dollar by utilizing it as a global payment method, focusing on Hallyu contents such as K-pop and K-webtoons.
At the policy discussion on 'Won Stablecoin vs Dollar Stablecoin' held at the National Assembly on the 21st, Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byung-deok stated, "The global financial paradigm has reached a turning point" and "Won stablecoin can become a strategic asset beyond simple payment to secure monetary sovereignty".
"We must expand financial territory starting from BTS goods payment"
Professor Lee Jong-seop said, "If French or Swedish youth pay for BTS goods with a won stablecoin, it can become the first entry point to global digital finance beyond a simple purchase".
Lawmaker Min also emphasized, "Based on the strengths of Hallyu content, if we establish a won payment ecosystem in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, we can expand our country's role in the dollar-centered market".
Private-sector-centered ecosystem needed... "No bank monopoly"
There was an opinion that the issuer of stablecoins should not be limited to the financial sector. Dr. Yoon Min-seop from the Digital Consumer Research Institute argued, "If only banks are allowed to issue, it will be used only as a simple exchange tool like Tether" and "IT companies or digital asset businesses should be able to issue independently or in consortium".
Professor Lee also added, "CBDC is difficult to incorporate private innovation and has low scalability" and "Private stablecoins for retail use are absolutely necessary".
"Hallyu + Digital Assets = New Financial Sovereignty Model"
Lawmaker Min said, "If we spread won stablecoin in combination with platforms like KakaoTalk and Naver, global financial expandability will be significantly enhanced" and "The convergence of Hallyu and finance is the key strategy to counter dollar hegemony".
Referring to the past Terra-Luna incident, he said, "Now is the time when trust has been undermined, and we must design a proper stablecoin by combining technology on the basis of legal and institutional framework".
Digital Asset Basic Law to be proposed... Including 100% reserve asset requirement
Lawmaker Min plans to propose the Digital Asset Basic Law soon. The bill mandates securing 100% reserve assets when issuing stablecoins and includes a flexible structure that regulates only key matters such as reserve management and redemption obligations.
Dr. Yoon emphasized, "As it will take at least 6 months to pass the bill, we should first promote it as an innovative finance under the Financial Innovation Support Act and prepare for the first issuance in the first half of next year".
"Now is the opportunity... Reorganizing global order with won stablecoin"
"Until now, no stablecoin has successfully challenged dollar hegemony. However, we have technological capabilities and Hallyu as soft power."
Lawmaker Min stated, "We have now reached a turning point where we can actively design global financial order, moving beyond passively accepting it" and "Won stablecoin can be the starting point for this".
