South Korea's Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung has proposed the creation of a stablecoin pegged to the Korean won to curb capital outflows and strengthen the country's financial sovereignty.
During a recent policy debate, Lee stressed that a won-based stablecoin could help South Korea preserve domestic wealth and reduce reliance on foreign digital assets such as USDT and USDC, The Korea Herald reports.
Currently, South Korean law prohibits the issuance of domestic stablecoins, forcing local platforms to rely on US dollar-based alternatives.
From January to March, South Korean crypto exchanges recorded asset outflows worth 56.8 trillion won ($40.8 billion), nearly half of which were associated with foreign stablecoins, according to the report.