Fractional ship investment in November, expansion into STOs next year

Korea’s RWA market still in infrastructure investment phase

Stock tokenization seen drawing overseas capital

Kang Byung-ha, an executive director at Meritz Securities, laid out the plan on Sept. 30 at the Seoul Digital Money Summit 2026 Q4 at Hashed Lounge in Seoul’s Gangnam district. The firm plans to start with fractional ship investment, broaden the range of investable assets and expand its token securities, or STO, business in line with the rollout of the regulatory framework.

The event, hosted by Suho AI, included a panel discussion on “Tokenized Stocks and the Structural Shift in Capital Markets.” Participants included Kang, Kunal Patel, head of Asia at Ondo Finance, Keith Yeo, head of Asia-Pacific at Allium Labs, and Ahn Kwang-ho, a researcher at Tiger Research.

Meritz Securities is preparing a pilot fractional ship investment program with the Korea Ocean Business Corporation. At a Sept. 29 meeting on developing the fractional ship investment market, the state-run agency said it plans to issue bond-type trust beneficiary certificates backed by ships it holds and pursue a listing on the Korea Exchange’s market for new types of securities within the year. Meritz Securities will support product structuring and risk management.

Kang described the market for new types of securities as a stepping stone toward a token securities market. He said the sector can move into a full-fledged growth phase only when retail investors begin buying actual products, beyond the current infrastructure spending by financial firms.

“Most revenue tied to real-world assets, or RWA, at traditional financial institutions is currently close to zero, and it turns negative once you factor in investment costs,” Kang said. “We are investing to build stable infrastructure with an eye on revenue over the next three to five years.”

At present, financial firms are making the investments while systems integrators and developers generate revenue. Financial institutions can only say they are generating revenue once investors start buying the products.

Kang said product diversity will be key to expanding the market. Fractional investment in South Korea has been concentrated in a narrow set of assets, such as artworks and copyrights, and the investment universe needs to widen to include new assets such as ships.

“The market was not small because there were no attractive products,” Kang said. “It is more accurate to say the products the market wants have not yet emerged because of regulation.” Overseas, tokenized bond and money-market fund products have shown a strong ability to attract capital, he added.

Over the longer term, Kang said stock tokenization could reshape capital markets. That could make it possible for Korean investors to invest in U.S. private shares, while investors in the U.S. and Southeast Asia could trade shares in Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. without time constraints.

“Tokenization is closer to removing the borders of capital than the borders of assets,” he said. “Korean assets are attractive in global markets, and tokenizing them could draw more foreign capital.” He added that assets that were difficult to distribute in traditional securities form could also be linked to investor demand.

Kang stressed that not every financial asset needs to move onto a blockchain. Instead, the market is likely to use existing financial systems and distributed ledgers side by side, choosing the most efficient method depending on the asset and the purpose of the transaction. Regulation also needs to reflect actual market demand while maintaining safeguards needed for investor protection. He also cited scalability and compatibility for infrastructure that can connect with overseas markets as major tasks.

On concerns about capital outflows, Kang said tokenization itself does not determine the direction of money flows. While Korean investors may increase overseas investments, foreign investors seeking Korean assets could also gain easier access. He said any assessment of inflows should distinguish between funds that enter South Korea and money that remains parked in offshore special-purpose vehicles or funds.

“Tokenization creates channels that make money and assets easier to move,” Kang said. “What matters fundamentally is demand for the asset and the currency.” He added that South Korea has competitive financial firms capable of packaging assets, technology and products for sale, and over the long term, inflows could exceed outflows.