[Korea's Financial Supervisory Service: Stablecoins Used as Electronic Payment Means Should Be Subject to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act] BlockBeats reported on November 10th, citing Yonhap News Agency, that Shim Eun-seop, Director of the Electronic Financial Inspection Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, stated at a discussion in Yeouido, Seoul, that if stablecoins are used as electronic payment means, the Electronic Financial Transactions Act is unavoidable due to considerations of fairness with existing electronic payment methods, user protection, and payment settlement stability. He pointed out that applying different laws to the same payment settlement transaction due to different payment instruments could lead to regulatory arbitrage and confusion. He advocated for introducing small-scale licenses under this law for stablecoin payment settlement businesses, while simultaneously applying obligations related to stability guarantees, term planning and reporting, protection of deposit and settlement funds, protection of transaction information, and dispute resolution. He also stated his full agreement to impose anti-money laundering obligations separately on issuers, wallet providers, and payment service providers. Kim Bo-il, head of the Virtual Assets Group at the Bank of Korea, reiterated that stablecoin issuance should initially be initiated with banks at its core. The scope of issuers should be expanded only after it's confirmed that the technology can effectively integrate with existing systems and regulations. He stated that this is a compromise arrangement proposed to mitigate the risk of stablecoins being used as tools to circumvent regulations, given the lack of an optimal solution. He also suggested a careful assessment of the extent to which South Korea's national payment system relies on global private networks and how to design its linkage and interoperability with existing systems. Yonhap News Agency reported that the government's draft of the "Digital Assets Basic Law," expected to be released this month, will likely feature bank-centric consortia as the main issuers of stablecoins. Hwang Seok-jin, a professor at Dongguk University, suggested that, rather than a structure dominated by specific industries, it would be more appropriate to allow practitioners meeting certain qualifications and responsibility requirements to participate. Lee Dong-cheol, president of the Credit Finance Association, expressed his hope that more financial institutions would participate in the issuance of won stablecoins, leveraging their respective strengths. Namgoong Seol, head of Shinhan Card, stated that overseas stablecoin payment cases typically utilize the Visa network, and South Korea may also need to utilize card organization networks to some extent if it wants to promote early circulation in the payment sector. The discussion was hosted by the Democratic Party's Artificial Intelligence, Finance and Economics Promotion Group, and participating members expect the government's bill to be introduced this month. [Original Link]