Kim Yong-beom Director “Should Hurry Won Stablecoin”…Policy Drive Full-scale

Kwon Hwa Stablecoin's strong advocate, Kim Yong-beom, Policy Director (Source: Yonhap News)

It seems the Lee Jae-myung administration will speed up the issuance of Kwon Hwa Stablecoin. With Kim Yong-beom, former CEO of Hashed Open Research, recently appointed as the policy chief of the presidential office, the relevant institutional reform and legal basis preparation are likely to be rapidly promoted.

Director Kim has repeatedly emphasized since his tenure at Hashed that, “Kwon Hwa Stablecoin is a tool to protect monetary sovereignty and a strategic means to export the digital economic order.” Last month, he also stated, “Domestic banks and tech companies are deeply concerned about issuing stablecoins,” and stressed that “establishing a legal basis is urgent.”

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies used as a means of payment and remittance by fixing their value to fiat currencies like the Dollar or Kwon Hwa. In the United States, Dollar-based stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) dominate the major platforms. In a Hashed seminar last May, Director Kim warned, “We must quickly introduce institutionalized Kwon Hwa Stablecoins and design them ourselves to protect our monetary sovereignty,” claiming that this could provide Korea with an opportunity to leap into becoming a 'Digital G2'.

This trend aligns with President Lee Jae-myung's election pledge. During his candidacy, President Lee stated, “I will actively pursue the issuance and distribution of Kwon Hwa Stablecoin.”

Director Kim is a former official from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Financial Services Commission, recognized for his high policy understanding and execution capability. A high-ranking official in the financial industry evaluated, “Director Kim is the right person to act as a bridge between the private sector and bureaucracy, based on his administrative ability and in-depth understanding of the virtual asset market.”

Meanwhile, the Korea Financial Research Institute also proposed easing the 'one bank - one exchange' regulation to revitalize the stablecoin ecosystem. Seo Byung-ho, a research fellow, urged improvement, stating, “The regulation is an administrative custom not based on formalized laws or guidelines, which hinders supervisory transparency.”

As the government's policy signals become clearer, there is an increasing possibility of significant institutional changes beginning in Korea's digital asset market.