The nominee to lead the Bank of Korea, Shin Hyun-song, has expressed his support for a central bank digital currency and bank-issued deposit tokens as the foundation of South Korea's digital money system. He views stablecoins as playing a supplementary and competitive role to these core components. In his written remarks submitted to parliament, Shin emphasized the need for trust in the currency to come first and highlighted the importance of introducing a won-based stablecoin. However, he stressed that stablecoins should be used for specific purposes such as trading tokenized assets and enabling programmable payments, rather than replacing state-backed money.
Shin's proposal aligns with the central bank's existing stance that stablecoin issuance should begin with regulated banks, citing compliance demands such as anti-money laundering and customer checks. He also expressed skepticism about the potential of blockchain-based coins to improve foreign exchange efficiency due to regulatory compliance uncertainty and added costs.
Furthermore, Shin noted that digital assets fall short of fulfilling the core roles of money as a unit of account, medium of exchange, and store of value. His remarks come as policymakers debate the extent to which the market should be opened, with regulators pushing for bank-led models and lawmakers proposing broader frameworks that would allow non-bank issuers under new legislation.