South Korea's next central bank chief appears open to won stablecoins, but only inside a system still led by the central bank and commercial banks. In written answers submitted ahead of his confirmation hearing, Bank of Korea governor nominee Shin Hyun-song said a CBDC and bank-issued deposit tokens should form the core of the country's digital money architecture.

Stablecoins get a role, not the lead

Shin said he supports the introduction of a won-based stablecoin in principle, while stressing that public trust in money remains the first priority. He described stablecoins as useful for tokenized-asset trading and programmable functions, but said they should coexist with deposit tokens in a supplementary and competitive relationship rather than replace state-backed money.

He also argued that issuance should begin with a bank-led consortium, with non-bank participation allowed gradually. His reasoning was conservative: South Korea is not a reserve-currency issuer, so customer verification, anti-money-laundering controls, and broader compliance standards matter more than speed.

A cautious line on FX efficiency

Shin was also skeptical of claims that stablecoins would automatically make foreign exchange transactions more efficient. He said it is still unclear whether blockchain-based systems can satisfy capital and FX rules cleanly, or whether compliance costs would erase the gains.

The stance matters because it suggests Seoul is not rejecting stablecoins outright. Instead, the Bank of Korea's incoming leadership looks set to keep digital won experiments centered on supervised bank rails, with private tokens permitted only around the edges.