Min Byeong-deok: 'Bigger market means bigger hacking risks — basic law must include safeguards'

Democratic Party of Korea Lawmaker Min Byeong-deok said Monday that "the bigger the market grows, the greater the hacking and security threats become," adding that embedding investor protection mechanisms and technical standards for digital asset custodians into a basic law is "just as important a task as supporting innovation."

Min made the remarks in a congratulatory address at the inaugural World Digital Assets Forum (WDAF), hosted by The Herald Business and The Korea Herald at The Grand Lotte Seoul in Sogong-dong. Referencing a special address by Felix Eigelshoven, DFNS Asia-Pacific head, on "quantum computing threats and the future of digital assets," Min said it was "very significant in itself that speakers like this have gathered in Seoul rather than Tokyo or Singapore."

Turning to the forum's theme — "The New Financial Architecture" — Min said it was "exactly the question I am grappling with in the National Assembly right now." Korea has yet to legislate on who may issue stablecoins or how reserve assets should be managed, he said, adding that "when you see foreign competitors openly doing business that Korean companies cannot do at home, the regulatory gap is a competitiveness gap."

Min said he had prepared "an institutional foundation that would allow financial institutions and digital asset companies to use Korea as a base from which to expand into Asian markets," describing an approach that "sets behavioral standards first rather than starting with who qualifies to issue stablecoins."

He said he would "establish a legal foundation for the entire digital asset industry, including security token offerings," and went on to say he aimed to "build a market that domestic and foreign financial institutions can trust — one with a legal basis for institutional investor participation, transparent trading order, secure asset custody and investor protection."

Min also noted that pre-registrations for the forum had surpassed 1,000 within a month, saying "the numbers speak to the mood of Korea's digital finance market." He urged attendees to share their views, saying "the experience and judgment that practitioners exchange here make far better legislative material than abstract statutory language — please give us your input so that today's discussion can carry through to the National Assembly."