South Korea Accelerates Second Phase of Central Bank Digital Currency Pilot

South Korea's central bank is accelerating the second phase of its central bank digital currency pilot, the Han River Project. According to Foresight News, if system development and participant recruitment are completed as scheduled, a real-world deposit token test could begin as early as September and continue indefinitely. The number of participating banks will increase from seven to nine in the second phase. New functions will include peer-to-peer transfers, biometric authentication, and automated deposit token withdrawals and deposits, while use cases will expand to merchants signed with the participating banks. The South Korean government also plans to use deposit tokens to distribute subsidies for electric vehicle charging facilities and is studying whether to include treasury funds such as public-sector business promotion expenses in the pilot.