SEOUL – South Korea risks falling behind in the race to build next-generation financial infrastructure unless the National Assembly quickly passes the stalled Framework Act on Digital Assets, according to Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Do-geol.
Speaking at a seminar in Yeouido on June 22, Ahn said putting digital assets on a legal footing is no longer optional. Major economies and financial institutions are already competing to set the rules, he argued, and regulatory uncertainty in South Korea is a drag on innovation.
“Digital assets are evolving beyond mere investment products into next-generation financial infrastructure,” Ahn said. He pointed to real-world asset tokenization – government bonds, money market funds, deposits and real estate – as a fast-growing market that demands a clear legal framework.
Ahn cited moves by the United States, which is advancing the GENIUS Act for stablecoins and the CLARITY Act to refine digital-asset law, and Japan, which is incorporating stablecoins into its domestic payments infrastructure after an earlier conservative stance. The message: other jurisdictions are not waiting.
The Democratic Party proposed the Framework Act on Digital Assets last year, but the bill has languished in committee. Industry participants say that without a basic law, fostering the digital-asset industry is effectively impossible. Ahn vowed to revive full-scale discussions in the second half of this year.
“The legislation must now move beyond debate and toward enactment,” he said. He also plans to pursue follow-up legal reforms, including revisions to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, to lay the legislative foundation for digital assets to become real-economy financial infrastructure.
For traders and investors, the timeline matters. Ahn’s push indicates a potential shift in regulatory momentum, but the bill remains stuck. The key watch item: whether the National Assembly schedules a vote in the second half of 2026. Any delay would keep South Korea’s digital-asset market in legal limbo – a risk already weighing on local exchange listings and institutional adoption.
South Korean Lawmaker Ahn Do-geol Urges Fast-Track Digital Asset Bill
South Korean lawmaker Ahn Do-geol urges expedited passage of the Framework Act on Digital Assets to legally institutionalize digital assets and remove regulatory uncertainty. He highlights international moves by the US and Japan toward digital asset regulation and stablecoin integration.