Overview

• On June 30, the Bank of Korea suspended the second phase of its Project Han River CBDC pilot pending a review of stablecoin legislation and institutional frameworks.
• The pause follows banks’ unease over high infrastructure costs after spending about 30 billion won on the first phase testing tokenized deposits.
• President Lee Jae-myung’s Democratic Party submitted a June 10 bill to permit qualified companies to issue won-pegged stablecoins, shifting momentum to private issuance.
• Major banks have filed trademarks for KRW-based stablecoins and formed task forces with tech partners to prepare for private launches.
• Regulatory oversight remains divided among the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, heightening concerns over fragmented supervision and systemic risks.