South Korea's Democratic Party Proposes Legal Framework for Tokenized Assets and Stablecoins

South Korea's Democratic Party is moving to integrate tokenized real-world assets (RWA) and stablecoins into the existing legal framework. According to ChainCatcher, the proposal includes provisions in the draft of the Digital Asset Basic Act. The proposal mandates that issuers of tokenized RWAs deposit linked assets into trust accounts in accordance with the Capital Markets Act. Stablecoins are classified as 'means of payment' under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, to be regulated by foreign exchange authorities without requiring additional registration. Small stablecoin transactions are exempt from foreign exchange reporting, while larger transactions remain subject to regulatory requirements. Additionally, the proposal prohibits offering returns on idle stablecoin balances and requires the Financial Services Commission to establish technical standards for stablecoin interoperability. The Digital Asset Basic Act represents South Korea's second set of digital asset regulations, which has faced multiple legislative delays, pushing the original 2025 launch timeline further back.