Korea's Stablecoin Bill Stalls, So the FSS Reaches for the Old Payments Rule

Shim Eun-seop, who heads the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic finance inspection bureau, told a Seoul stablecoin policy forum that coins used for payments in South Korea will have to adapt to the existing Electronic Financial Transactions Act. The workaround is on the table precisely because the Digital Asset Basic Act, the law meant to govern issuers, still has not passed.

Across town at the D-CON policy conference, Dunamu co-founder Kim Hyung-nyeon made a rare public appearance and said Upbit and other domestic platforms are being held back from tokenized equities trading by local rules that have hit a wall. Traders hunting that exposure are instead routing to offshore exchanges, which already list tokenized versions of Hyundai Motor, Kakao, Naver, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The government's draft of the Digital Asset Basic Act is expected later this month, and ruling-party lawmakers at both events pushed for a fast vote. Political Affairs Committee chair Yoo Dong-su and Democratic Party Rep. Min Byung-duk both voiced the will to pass it once it lands, with Min committing to a January 18 deadline.

Separately, the Financial Services Commission is writing its own rules to let tokenized stocks, bonds and funds trade inside the country starting February 4, 2027. The regulator is accepting public comments on that proposal until November 11.