In short
Lee Jae-myung received South Korea’s snap election after former president’s impeachment over martial regulation.
He pledged to legalize Bitcoin ETFs and launch won-pegged stablecoin to curb capital flight.
The inauguration is ready for July 17, with Lee promising for AI and semiconductor investments and shorter work week.
A rustic shaken by martial regulation simply six months in the past has elected a brand new chief with plans for crypto reform.
Lee Jae-myung, the chief of South Korea’s Democratic Occasion, was sworn in as President on Wednesday after securing a decisive victory in a June 3 snap election.
With 99% of votes counted, Lee received 49.42% to rival Kim Moon-soo’s 41.15%, amid a historic 79.4% voter turnout, the very best since 1997.
The snap election got here on account of former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment in December for declaring martial regulation in a failed energy seize that paralyzed the nation’s legislature.
Lee, who narrowly misplaced to Yoon in 2022, had used that earlier marketing campaign to experiment with NFTs bearing his picture and pledges, in an effort to attach with youthful voters.
In his newest run, he expanded on these concepts, pledging to legalize spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and launch a won-pegged stablecoin to forestall capital flight.
“We have to set up a won-backed stablecoin market to forestall nationwide wealth from leaking abroad,” he stated throughout a Might coverage discussion board.
“With Lee Jae-myung now elected, the chance of seeing a spot ETF permitted has considerably elevated,” Min Jung, an analyst at Presto Analysis, advised Decrypt.
“It’s considerably ironic that South Korea—probably the most crypto-active nations globally—nonetheless lags behind friends just like the U.S. and Hong Kong on this entrance,” Jung stated.
Nonetheless, Jung warned that different initiatives, like launching a stablecoin, “would require extra cautious deliberation, significantly round regulatory frameworks, financial coverage coordination, and technical implementation.”
In Q1 2025, South Korean exchanges moved $40.6 billion in crypto overseas, almost half in stablecoins like USDT and USDC, elevating considerations over capital outflows that Lee’s proposed won-backed stablecoin goals to curb.
Lee’s full inauguration will happen on July 17, Structure Day, in a symbolic “Appointment Ceremony” that his workplace says displays his perception that “the individuals appoint the president.”
Aside from crypto, Lee has promised a “pragmatic and market-oriented” financial coverage that features investments in AI, semiconductors, and protection expertise, as per a Yonhap Information report.
He’s additionally advocating for a four-and-a-half-day workweek, expanded assist for small companies, tax deductions for households, and expanded aged care companies.
Former President Yoon, as soon as hailed as a pro-crypto reformer, had promised to decontrol the business in 2022 however achieved little throughout his tenure.
His administration confronted pushback from the Monetary Companies Fee (FSC), and his time period ended amid a political disaster and a freeze on key crypto payments.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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