South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has nominated Hyun Song Shin as the new head of the Bank of Korea. According to NS3.AI, Shin previously spent 12 years at the Bank for International Settlements. In a paper published in March 2026, Shin argued that stablecoins could fragment money across different chains and advocated for a unified ledger to integrate central bank money, deposits, and tokenized assets.
The Bank of Korea has recently advanced to phase two of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) project, known as 'Hangang.' This phase, launched on March 18, involves the central bank issuing digital currency while commercial banks are responsible for distributing deposit tokens.