President Lee Jae Myung Doubles Down on Won-Pegged Stablecoins Despite Crypto Skepticism

South Korea's push for sovereign stablecoins just got a turbocharge. President Lee Jae Myung is aggressively advancing plans for KRW-backed digital currencies—betting big on blockchain while traditional finance scrambles to keep up.

Won stablecoins could reshape regional finance

The move positions Korea as a rare G20 economy embracing national crypto infrastructure. Unlike Japan's cautious CBDC approach or China's outright bans, Seoul wants privately issued—but government-regulated—stablecoins pegged 1:1 to the Korean won.

Bankers hate it. Traders love it. And regulators? They're just trying to stay awake through the 17th interagency meeting this month.

One finance ministry insider quipped: 'At this rate, we'll have more stablecoin frameworks than actual stablecoins.' But with $23B in daily KRW forex volume at stake, nobody's laughing.

President Lee Jae Myung continues to push won-backed stablecoins

The MOVE toward stablecoins follows a pledge by President Lee Jae Myung to legalize the issue of Korean won-backed stablecoins and boost the stablecoin market in the company. The long-term goal is to prevent capital from moving into foreign stablecoins.

Shortly after the election, Min Byeong-deok, a lawmaker from the ruling party who oversaw digital assets in Lee’s campaign, put forward a bill to create a licensing system and rules for stablecoin issuers.

The push gained steam when Naver and Kakao, two major IT companies in South Korea, filed trademark applications for stablecoins linked to their mobile payment services. Local media say eight top banks, including those in the CBDC pilot, plan to FORM a joint venture to issue a won-based stablecoin.

The Bank of Korea itself has spoken positively about won-linked stablecoins. Governor Lee Chang-yong says that he anticipates a growing demand for such assets, as long as the right safeguards exist for any risks.

South Korea’s rush into stablecoins is similar to moves in the United States. There, the GENIUS Act is moving quickly through Congress to set rules for US dollar stablecoins under Trump.

As of now, South Korea is also among the world’s biggest in spot crypto trading. Government data shows that by last year’s end, over one in every five South Koreans owned and traded cryptocurrencies.

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