PANews May 20th News: According to Cointelegraph, South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-myeong recently proposed a plan to issue a stablecoin pegged to the South Korean won, aiming to curb capital outflows and strengthen financial sovereignty.
Lee Jae-myung pointed out at the policy discussion meeting that the current South Korean law prohibits the issuance of domestic stablecoins, leading domestic exchanges to rely on US dollar stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. In the first quarter of 2025, the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges recorded an asset outflow of 56.8 trillion won (about 40.8 billion US dollars), nearly half of which was related to foreign stablecoins.
This proposal is part of its digital asset strategy and also includes promoting the legalization of spot cryptocurrency ETFs and allowing institutions such as the National Pension Fund to invest in cryptocurrencies after meeting price stability conditions. To facilitate the implementation, he proposed establishing a comprehensive monitoring system under government supervision and reducing transaction costs.
However, Shin Bo-sung, a researcher at the Korea Capital Market Institute, warned that stablecoins might expand the money supply and shift the control of monetary policy to private issuers. On May 13th, the Democratic Party of Korea established the “Digital Asset Committee” and plans to introduce the “Digital Asset Basic Law”, requiring stablecoin issuers to hold at least 500 billion won in reserves and obtain approval from the Financial Committee.
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