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National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik Says Stablecoins Are Key to Digital Finance Innovation
Summary
- National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik said stablecoins are central to digital finance innovation and pledged to work on establishing the related framework.
- Cho said introducing a won-based stablecoin could create about 36 trillion won in annual economic value in areas such as asset tokenization and artificial intelligence (AI) payments.
- Cho said South Korea should secure leadership in digital currencies and make the leap to becoming a leader in finance, citing global digital currency competition in the US, Europe, Japan and Hong Kong.
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National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik described stablecoins as central to digital finance innovation and said he would work to help establish the necessary framework.
Speaking in a congratulatory address at a policy seminar held on November 5 at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Yeouido, Seoul, to mark the publication of “The Future of Money, the Stablecoin Revolution,” Cho said money has been a driving force behind economic innovation and is now entering another major turning point in the digital era.
He traced the evolution of money from metal coins to paper currency and credit cards, and said digital currency represents a new shift that will fundamentally change how capital moves and is used. He stressed that stablecoins are taking hold at the center of that change.
Cho also expressed optimism about the economic impact of a won-based stablecoin. Citing expert analysis, he said its introduction could generate about 36 trillion won, or about $26 billion, in annual economic value in areas including asset tokenization and artificial intelligence payments.
He also highlighted intensifying global competition in digital currencies. Cho said the US has moved to institutionalize stablecoins through legislation, while Europe, Japan and Hong Kong are also moving quickly to build related frameworks. South Korea, he said, should use its strengths as an information-technology powerhouse to emerge as a leader in digital finance.
“South Korea is an IT powerhouse and a digital leader,” Cho said. “If it secures leadership in digital currencies based on those strengths, it could use that as an opportunity to become a leading country in finance as well.”
He added that the National Assembly would do its best to reflect the ideas and insights presented at the seminar in policy so it can build the right direction for digital currency innovation together with the public.
