Licensing, Stablecoins and Legal Definitions

South Korea's landmark digital asset framework is close to its final text, according to the country's top financial regulator. Lee Eog-weon, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday that negotiations over the Digital Asset Basic Act are nearing completion and that the government will push to introduce the bill to the National Assembly as soon as possible.

The proposed legislation would set the ground rules for the entire market in one of Asia's most active crypto jurisdictions, replacing the current patchwork of guidance with statutory obligations. Its main pillars are licensing requirements for every crypto exchange, rules governing how stablecoin issuers operate, and clearer legal definitions for digital assets themselves.

What the draft does not yet spell out are capital requirements and reserve rules for stablecoin issuers. Because consultations remain in their final stages, those details could still change before the bill reaches lawmakers — the main outstanding detail as the text heads to the National Assembly.

For market participants, the practical stakes are considerable: a settled framework would reduce the legal uncertainty around spot trading and holding assets, whether on a platform or in a crypto wallet, and would allow firms to plan new products without guessing which rules apply. Lee's remarks place the FSC at the center of the effort, and they carry weight because the commission would be the body implementing whatever the final text prescribes.

A Tax Fight With 53,809 Signatures

The other half of the story is the country's contested crypto tax, which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. Authorities have already postponed it three times over fairness and infrastructure concerns, and the pressure to delay again is public and measurable.

A petition launched in May seeking outright repeal reached 53,809 signatures — the threshold that forces a legislative review. A second petition, filed in August and asking for a two-year deferral, crossed the same mark in mid-September.

The ruling party has not committed either way. Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party, said he is reviewing various inputs on the tax plan and called for a thorough final review — comments that suggest no settled position. Lee himself added that crypto taxation should consider various circumstances, acknowledging the timing problem some lawmakers see: the tax could start before the framework sets the basic rules it is meant to tax against.

The National Tax Service, meanwhile, plans to finalize its draft tax notice by October 30, with a preliminary review and public notice to follow in November. That schedule leaves little room if lawmakers choose a fourth postponement.

@cryptoamanclub · X post: Finalize its draft tax notice by October 30.

Sequencing Risk

The report's assessment is that the sequencing risk is now the story. The National Tax Service will put its draft notice on record on October 30 — weeks before the National Assembly has even seen the basic act — meaning the tax's definitions would effectively precede the market's legal definitions.

If legislators defer again, it would become the fourth postponement of a deadline already moved three times, which the report argues weakens the credibility of any future effective date. Exchanges and stablecoin issuers face the harder constraint: without disclosed capital and reserve requirements, product planning cannot start in earnest regardless of which side wins the tax argument. From here, the markers to watch sit on the calendar: the bill's introduction to the National Assembly, the October 30 draft notice, and the November preliminary review and public notice.