Legislation for South Korea's Digital Asset Basic Act remains stalled, and Rep. Min Byungduk of the Democratic Party of Korea says the delay stems from debates that other jurisdictions have never treated as central policy questions.

Speaking on September 30 at Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) 2026, held at the Walkerhill Hotel & Resort in Seoul, Min criticized the ongoing disputes over which entities should be permitted to issue stablecoins and whether to cap major-shareholder stakes in virtual asset exchanges.

"The structure of the Digital Asset Basic Act discussion in Korea is frustrating. No country in the world regards the issues of stablecoin issuers or exchange shareholding limits as core debates, yet Korea is focusing on the wrong issues," Min said.

His remarks come as the legislative process for the act continues to slip, including the postponement of a scheduled public hearing. The delay leaves Korean crypto exchanges, issuers and institutional participants operating without the statutory framework the bill is meant to provide.

Min framed the stakes in broader economic terms. He argued that the expansion of artificial intelligence, the proliferation of stablecoins, and the emergence of the dollar as a digital key currency have combined to invigorate the digital economy. Drawing on historical precedent, he said controlling standards and infrastructure matters more than developing the underlying AI technologies themselves, and he warned that Korea must not settle for the role of technology follower.

The congressman pointed to a specific risk: as dollar-denominated stablecoins become the payment infrastructure of the AI era, a country without adequate domestic systems will watch its companies and investors migrate to overseas platforms. In his assessment, the Korean economy would inevitably be marginalized in what he described as a coming "dollar tsunami."

"As dollar stablecoins surge like a tsunami, the way for us to overcome it is not to build barriers but to ride the tide," Min said.

Three Prerequisites

Min laid out three requirements he said Korea needs to prepare for the era of digital finance.

First, the National Assembly should enact the Digital Asset Basic Act promptly, creating a legal basis for issuing a won-denominated stablecoin that is lighter and more convenient to use than its dollar counterparts.

Second, Korea must build an environment in which domestic Web3 and fintech companies — firms he described as understanding both AI and finance — can grow.

Third, the country needs an educational pipeline that produces talent combining development capabilities with financial expertise, to drive the convergence of AI and finance.

He presented the choice in stark terms. "We have two choices. One is to watch these changes unfold and think 'maybe someday we could try it,' and the other is to prepare ourselves now and become a country that sets the standards and norms as Asia's digital finance hub," Min said.

Closing his lecture, he acknowledged the gap between ambition and execution in Seoul's political establishment. "There is one thing we currently lack: both politicians and authorities lack the resolve — yet now is the time for decisive action," he said.

Min pledged to push for three outcomes: institutionalization of the won stablecoin, passage of the Digital Asset Basic Act, and the entry of institutional investors into the Korean digital asset market. With the public hearing already postponed and the legislative calendar tightening, the bill's fate in the current session will hinge on whether the disputes over stablecoin issuance rights and exchange ownership caps can be resolved in the coming months.