[2025 Financial Forum] Lee Dong Ki: "To Overcome Low Growth Trap, Focus on Blockchain-Based Virtual Assets"

Time for the Financial Sector to Embrace AI and Blockchain
Lee Dongki Stresses the Need for Institutional Foundations
Tokenization Technology Expected to Drive Global Payment Innovation
Korea Urged to Accelerate Digital Asset Legislation and Adoption
Digital Assets Bring Both Opportunities and Risks, Lee Warns

"We are now living in a world that cannot be explained without artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and it is expected that blockchain-based digital assets (virtual assets) will become more active in the next 25 years. In order to resolve the trap of low growth in our country, it is time for the financial sector to actively consider these issues."

Dong Ki Lee, partner at Deloitte Consulting Korea, is attending the "2025 Asia Financial Forum" hosted by Asia Economy at the Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 21st, delivering a special lecture titled "Trump 2.0 Era, Global Trends of Virtual Assets and Suggestions for Virtual Asset-Based Commercialization." 2025.5.21. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Dong Ki Lee, partner at Deloitte Consulting Korea, delivered a special lecture at the "2025 Asia Financial Forum" hosted by Asia Economy at the Westin Chosun Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 21st, stating, "There is growing market interest and strategic importance being placed on blockchain technology."

Lee focused on tokenization technology for digital assets among virtual asset-based businesses. Digital asset tokenization refers to issuing ownership or rights to profits of physical or financial assets in the form of blockchain-based digital tokens.

According to a Deloitte report, tokenization technology is expected to create an economic impact of $5 billion (about 7 trillion KRW) within the next five years. He predicted, "Major global banks are building tokenization platforms for real-time payment processing, and in about five years, 25% of customers' international remittances will likely be settled in real time through blockchain platforms based on distributed ledger technology (DLT)." He added, "This will significantly simplify the current slow, expensive, and complex structure, reducing operational inefficiencies," and "It will become the central axis of real global payment innovation."

Despite this level of importance, Lee pointed out that the institutional foundation and utilization in Korea are still slow.

He explained, "Finance relies on IT technology more than any other business and accounts for a large proportion of budgets," but also diagnosed, "Korea is still not familiar with the blockchain or digital asset ecosystem." Lee added, "Korea has announced a roadmap to allow corporations to hold or collect crypto assets (virtual assets), aligning with the global direction, but since it is only at the stage of having a roadmap, there are people who doubt how effective it will be."

Lee emphasized the importance of establishing a foundation, mentioning past cases where legislation for activating the digital asset tokenization, or so-called Security Token Offering (STO) market, was attempted but failed. He said, "In the past, guidelines were created and legislation was attempted for the security token business, but last year it was automatically discarded, causing related businesses to stagnate or fail to progress," and "Although related bills have been proposed, without an institutional foundation, it is difficult for businesses to move forward proactively."

He continued, "There is a strong sense of crisis that Korea must not remain stagnant or regress, and to break through this situation, legislation and businesses that create new sources of income must be pursued," adding, "If we are to foster industries that have not been developed so far, the regulatory environment must also move forward proactively."

In the non-financial sector, he introduced the trend of actively utilizing digital assets as strategic financial assets. As a representative example, Lee mentioned MicroStrategy in the United States, stating, "Like a strategic reserve asset, they have continuously purchased Bitcoin and now hold more than 7 trillion KRW in balance sheet value," and "Japanese company Metaplanet and U.S. company GameStop have also adopted this financial strategy, and there are quite a few domestic companies paying close attention to these points."

However, Lee emphasized that business opportunities derived from digital assets also come with significant risks, so at least a minimum level of technical understanding is necessary. He said, "There have been many cases of hacking of centrally controlled virtual assets, and there have been many other incidents and accidents. Intuitively, blockchain is indeed more complex than the traditional financial industry," and added, "Risk management is often misunderstood in business departments as a system that hinders business, but in the long run, it will become a strategy to maximize profits."

Dong Ki Lee, partner at Deloitte Consulting Korea, attended the "2025 Asia Financial Forum" hosted by Asia Economy at the Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 21st, delivering a special lecture titled "Trump 2.0 Era, Global Trends in Virtual Assets and Proposals for Virtual Asset-Based Commercialization." 2025.5.21. Photo by Kang Jinhyung