Min Byung-deok of the Democratic Party said the success of a Korean won stablecoin will hinge not on issuance alone, but on building trust, practical use, global connectivity and an industry ecosystem.

Speaking at a policy seminar at the National Assembly Members' Office Building in Seoul's Yeouido on Aug. 21, Min outlined four conditions for a won stablecoin to succeed: trust, practical use, global connectivity and an industry ecosystem. The seminar was titled "A Great Transformation in the Financial Order and the Formula for Successful K-Stablecoin Issuance."

He said a stablecoin must secure trust through sufficient reserve assets, redemption rights and transparent disclosure if it is to take hold as a payment instrument similar to money. Exchange listings alone are not enough. It also needs repeated use in everyday areas such as customer payments, remittances and content purchases.

Min also identified global connectivity as a core requirement. If a won stablecoin is completed for domestic use but finds no acceptance overseas, it will struggle to stay competitive, he said. From the outset, it should be designed so issuance, redemption and payments can take place abroad as well.

He also proposed linking a won stablecoin to sectors where South Korea has a competitive edge in content. That would mean enabling its use across K-pop, dramas, games, webtoons, digital goods and fandom platforms to build an independent payments ecosystem.

"If Wonsco, a won stablecoin, becomes that payment infrastructure, culture could open a new territory for currency," Min said. In K-pop, dramas, games, webtoons, digital goods and fandom platforms, Wonsco could serve not as a foreign-exchange tool but as payment infrastructure for the K-content economy, he added.

Min said those conditions are necessary given the overwhelming market dominance of dollar stablecoins. Citing the Bank for International Settlements annual report, he said 99.4% of the market capitalization of fiat-backed stablecoins is denominated in dollars, with Tether's USDT and USD Coin's USDC accounting for most of the market.

He also pointed to Japan's yen stablecoin JPYC as an example of how a won stablecoin could be designed. JPYC not only established a structure under Japan's Payment Services Act for one-to-one issuance and redemption against the yen through registration as a funds transfer service provider, but also built in real-world uses including payments, business-to-business settlement, corporate treasury management and creator compensation.

Min ended by reaffirming his commitment to passing the Digital Asset Basic Act, the second phase of digital-asset legislation, in the second half of the year. "The system should serve as a foundation for innovation, not hold it back," he said. "At the same time, innovation without trust cannot simply be left to the market. It is the role of the National Assembly and the government to create a safe framework where companies and developers can operate freely."

He added that he hopes to pass the second-phase Digital Asset Basic Act in the second half of the year and will refine it through the seminar's discussions.