South Korea to Include Digital Assets in National Asset Management Framework, Plans 2027 Tokenized Sovereign Bond Pilot

Odaily Planet Daily report: The South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) plans to enact the National Assets Basic Act, updating the national asset management system under the 1950 State Property Act and explicitly including digital assets and intellectual property within the definition of national assets. The MOEF also reaffirmed its plan to pilot government bond tokenization via blockchain tokens by 2027 to reduce transaction costs, while exploring the tokenization of state-owned real estate to encourage retail participation and share a portion of returns with the public. This week, the South Korean government unveiled its economic growth strategy for the second half of 2026, aiming to pilot the integration of tokenized government bonds into the central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure by 2027, and to study interoperability between the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) CBDC infrastructure and other blockchains. On April 16, the MOEF announced plans to use tokenized deposits for government operational expenditures, with full deployment scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. Relevant amendments to South Korea’s Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act will take effect on February 4, 2027, legally recognizing blockchain ledgers as valid securities registries.