[South Korea Launches Phase 2 Testing of CBDC Project, Adds Transfer Function and More Participating Banks] According to Foresight News and the official website of the South Korean Financial Services Commission, the commission approved five innovative financial services during its regular meeting on July 15. Among them, the second phase of deposit token payment and settlement testing within the Bank of Korea's CBDC system (the 'Han River Project') has officially advanced: Gyeongnam Bank and iM Bank have been added as participating institutions, while the specifications for the original seven banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, NongHyup, IBK, and Busan) have been upgraded. Key changes include: - Expanding the deposit token wallet limit from 100,000 to 500,000 wallets. - Increasing the holding limit from KRW 1 million per wallet (cumulative KRW 5 million) to KRW 10 million per wallet (cumulative KRW 100 million). - Adding a transfer function on top of the existing payment functionality. - Introducing direct payment methods via smart contracts. Additionally, the meeting approved a low-interest loan service jointly offered by Kakao Bank and Busan Bank for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual business owners, as well as a prepaid card service (limit of KRW 1 million) by Naver Financial and Orange Square targeting foreign tourists visiting South Korea. The latter service does not require verification through South Korean local identity authentication processes.