[Government in] Ministry of Finance and Economy to Establish "Foreign Exchange Analysis Division" and "State-Owned Property Development Division" to Address Stablecoins and Housing Supply

Strengthening Cross-Border Stablecoin Monitoring
Accelerating Integrated Government Complex Development on State-Owned Land

In January next year, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, which will be newly established, will create a “Foreign Exchange Analysis Division” to monitor stablecoin transactions and a “National Property Development Division” dedicated to the development of complex government office buildings under the Lee Jaemyung administration. This organizational restructuring is intended to support the Lee administration’s core policies of expanding digital finance and increasing housing supply.

According to government sources on December 19, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, set to launch on January 2 next year, will establish the Foreign Exchange Analysis Division, which will be responsible for investigating and analyzing all foreign exchange transactions, including those involving stablecoins. The main role of the Foreign Exchange Analysis Division will be to monitor and analyze cross-border foreign exchange transactions using stablecoins. As legislation on virtual assets to introduce a Korean won stablecoin is currently under discussion in the National Assembly, once the system is in place, cross-border stablecoin transactions will be subject to regulation under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

While the Financial Services Commission will oversee the domestic issuance and soundness of stablecoin companies, the Ministry of Finance and Economy will focus on overseas remittances, currency exchange, and the impact on the foreign exchange market. The Foreign Exchange Analysis Division will also be responsible for research on regulations and systems related to stablecoins. The Foreign Exchange Analysis Team within the Foreign Exchange System Division will remain as is. However, some monitoring work on cross-border transactions, previously handled by the Foreign Exchange Analysis Team, will be transferred to the new Foreign Exchange Analysis Division.

Under the National Treasury Office’s National Property Policy Bureau, the National Property Development Division will be newly established. Separated from the National Property Adjustment Division, which manages the National Property Management Fund, the National Property Development Division will be in charge of developing complex government office buildings and housing supply projects utilizing state-owned land. Previously, government office buildings were constructed independently, regardless of floor area ratio, but the new complex development projects aim to maximize space utilization by constructing housing and other facilities alongside government offices.

The government explained that the new division was created in response to the significant expansion of housing supply and complex development projects utilizing state-owned land under the Lee Jaemyung administration. The Lee administration has emphasized the need to move beyond simply constructing government offices on state-owned land and instead combine housing, youth startup spaces, and commercial facilities to simultaneously increase fiscal revenue and policy effectiveness. Last September, the government announced that 50,000 housing units would begin construction in the Seoul metropolitan area by 2030 through public urban complex projects. Accordingly, the National Property Development Division will be responsible for complex development projects that combine housing, youth startup spaces, and commercial facilities.