South Korea's Ruling Party Proposes Forex Controls for Stablecoins and Mandatory Trust for RWA

South Korea's RWA and Stablecoin Bill Sets Clear Rules, Bans Interest Payments

South Korea is moving to clarify rules for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and stablecoins. According to Seoul Economic Daily, the ruling Democratic Party's digital asset task force has released an integrated bill that sets issuance standards for RWAs. Issuers must deposit linked assets into a managed trust under the Capital Markets Act, with details to be specified by presidential decree.

For stablecoins, the bill says that if used in foreign exchange transactions, they will be treated as a payment method under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. Operators would then automatically fall under the supervision of foreign exchange authorities without needing a separate registration. Everyday consumer payments would be exempt from reporting requirements. The bill also explicitly bans stablecoin issuers from paying interest to holders in any form.

The Financial Services Commission will need to set technical interoperability standards for stablecoins to prevent liquidity fragmentation when Korean won stablecoins are issued across multiple chains. Exchange and fragmented disclosure systems will be consolidated into a unified disclosure system under the digital asset industry association. Key controversial provisions—such as limits on major shareholder stakes in exchanges and stablecoin issuers holding bank shares—were not included in this bill.