New Bank of Korea head prioritizes CBDCs, deposit tokens
The new governor of South Koreas central bank, Shin Hyun-song, began his four-year term by outlining his four priorities, one of which was promoting and supporting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and tokenized deposits, as part of an effort to internationalize the won and innovate the currency regime. According to a report from local outlet whichpublished the new Bank of Korea (BoK) governors inaugural speech, Shin opened his address by stating that “in this time of transition, we must again ask what the role of the Central Bank is.” To answer this, he outlined his four main priorities for the BoK: seeking price and financial stability through currency policy management, playing an active role in the economys structural reform, and backing CBDCs and deposit tokens. CBDC and tokenized deposits Specifically, Shin outlined how, in a globalized and digitalized financial environment, “safeguarding trust in money and the stability of payments and settlements is also the Central Banks mission of the era.” This means progressing the design of South Korea‘s future currency regime in response to digital financial innovation, as well as internationalizing the won “to establish a currency infrastructure befitting our economy’s status.” To achieve this, the BoK governor said that: “Through Phase two of Project Han