Newly appointed Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song expressed support for central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and tokenized deposits in his first public speech.
Shin, who began his four-year term on Tuesday after an inauguration ceremony in Seoul, he said The central bank will accelerate the second phase of “Project Hangang,” a pilot project led by the Bank of Korea to test a blockchain-based wholesale CBDC system.
He also pointed to international cooperation efforts, including “Project Agora,” an international cooperation initiative launched in April 2024 by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and seven central banks to explore the tokenization of cross-border payments. Shin said these initiatives will “raise the status of Korea’s win in the digital payments environment.”
Although previous reports have suggested Shin was open to win-based stablecoins, he did not mention them in his keynote address.
South Korea’s stablecoin law remains stalled, with regulators and lawmakers divided on whether won-pegged token issuance should be constrained to commercial banks or opened to non-bank players such as fintech and technology companies.
Related: South Korea’s draft law covers stablecoins (RWA) in financial regulations: report
Shin signals geopolitical risk
Shin also mentioned rising tensions in the Middle East and their impact on oil prices, saying the Bank of Korea must adapt to growing uncertainty arising from geopolitical shocks, inflation pressures and changes in the global economy.
“We must strive for price and financial stability by pursuing a prudent and flexible monetary policy,” he said.
Shin was an economic advisor to the BIS from May 2014 to March 2026, and from January 2025 he also served as head of the Monetary and Economic Department, According to on the BIS website.
Last month he published an academic article arguing that stablecoins fail to meet the fundamental property of money, “unity”, because blockchain networks are inherently fragmented into different chains with different fees, levels of security, and decentralization.
Related: Naver-Dunamu’s filing sets the IPO committee, which includes a timeline for the fintech group
South Korea will test tokenized deposits for government spending
South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance is preparing to test blockchain-based payments for selected government spending as part of a regulatory sandbox exploring distributed ledger technology in public finances.
The pilot will utilize tokenized deposits to meet government operational spending, with full rollout scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. The initial phase will launch in Sejong City and will include conditions such as restrictions on timing and spending categories.
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