With the ruling party's national convention concluded, discussions on second-phase digital asset legislation are expected to regain momentum — and a lawmaker has signaled that the National Assembly will move straight to subcommittee deliberations in the second half of the year, without forming a separate task force. The intent is to proceed directly to bill review and complete the legislation within the year, given that enough related bills have already been introduced.
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Min Byeong-deok, who oversees the economic portfolio as senior vice chairman of the party's policy committee, said at the "Financial Order Transformation and K-Stablecoin Issuance Success Formula" seminar held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on Friday that a separate TF was unnecessary. "Do we really need to form a TF?" he said in response to a question about second-half task force plans. "All the bills are already out there — we can just discuss them in the subcommittee."
Earlier, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Min-gyu said in July that "after the national convention, once a new policy committee chairman is appointed and the TF is reactivated, the policy committee, the presidential office and related ministries will discuss the timing for introducing the basic act, and I think that will be decided around September."
Min said the TF had previously served a purpose when the party needed to coordinate with the government, but that stage had passed. "Before, we had the TF because we were consulting with the government," he said. "Now we can just discuss it here in the subcommittee."
In his opening remarks, Min reaffirmed his commitment to passing the Digital Asset Basic Act within the year. "We need to look honestly at what is happening in the market right now," he said, adding that "the competitiveness of stablecoins comes not from issuance volume but from the ecosystem."
He cited Japan's yen-denominated stablecoin JPYC as an instructive example, saying its significance lay in the fact that its designers had mapped out from the issuance stage where and why it would be used — covering payments, intercompany settlement, corporate asset management and creator rewards. "The role of the state and the National Assembly is to build a playing field where companies and developers can operate freely within a safe boundary," he said. "The Digital Asset Basic Act, the second phase of legislation, is set to pass in the second half of the year."
Choi Gang-seok, director of the Financial Supervisory Service's virtual assets bureau, who participated as a discussant, said the FSC chairman had also pledged to complete the legislation within the year, alongside Min. "As the JPYC experience shows, considerable procedures remain even after legislation before stablecoins can actually be issued," Choi said. "We will maintain an open posture and continue communicating with the market."
kyoung@heraldcorp.com
