South Korea Moves to Regulate Stablecoins as Payment Tools Under Foreign Exchange Act

South Korea's approach stands out because it treats stablecoins primarily as payment instruments under existing foreign exchange law rather than as a standalone crypto asset class, which ties oversight to cross-border money movement and the central bank's turf. The parallel licensing regime for exchanges and issuance rules signal a preference for supervised infrastructure over prohibition, a meaningful contrast with jurisdictions still legislating in pieces. The two tracks could create overlapping obligations for issuers and exchanges, so whether the foreign exchange framing and the digital asset law end up consistent is the open question worth watching.