South Korea's Financial Services Commission on Tuesday held the first meeting of its Virtual Asset Committee for 2026 at the Government Complex Seoul. It reviewed a mistaken virtual asset payment incident and discussed a government review draft of the Digital Asset Framework Act.

FSC Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young (권대영) said the government would pursue policy on a two-track basis: improving the system and broadening the market base, in terms of new opportunities and risk management.

He added that the FSC would accelerate its virtual asset policy going forward and communicate more often with the Virtual Asset Committee, a statutory virtual asset policy body.

The meeting first addressed progress and future plans related to the mistaken virtual asset payment incident that occurred on Feb. 6.

Participants agreed it was necessary to operate an emergency response team comprising the FSC, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) to help ensure sufficient compensation for user losses. They also agreed it was necessary to build systems by first improving self-regulation on exchange internal controls and risk management.

A view was also raised that, fundamentally, institutional effectiveness should be secured through enactment of the Digital Asset Framework Act, described as the second-stage virtual asset law.

The meeting also discussed the government review draft of the Digital Asset Framework Act.

Committee members noted the need to change the term "virtual asset" under the current Virtual Asset User Protection Act to align with global consistency. They also said there was a need for a regulatory framework for digital business operators so that diverse business models can be possible domestically.

They also stressed the need to introduce safeguards so that market trust and transparency can be institutionally ensured, including internal control standards for exchanges, IT and security standards, and the imposition of no-fault liability for damages.

They also held in-depth discussions on the need for bank-centered stablecoin issuance, with a 50 percent plus 1 shareholding, and on the need for ownership dispersion standards for virtual asset exchanges.

The FSC said it plans to continue consultations between the ruling party and the government on improving DAXA's self-regulation on internal control standards and on enacting the law, based on Tuesday's discussions. It also plans to hold a closed-door ruling party-government meeting at the National Assembly on Wednesday to review recent stock market conditions and response measures and discuss the Digital Asset Framework Act legislation, among other issues.