The Bank of Korea "Incorporates Latest IT Technologies into CBDC Pilot System"

'Status of CBDC Initiatives by Foreign Central Banks'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] The Bank of Korea announced on the 18th that it will appropriately incorporate the latest IT technologies into the pilot operation system of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) it plans to develop in the future.

In reference materials titled "Status of CBDC Promotion by Overseas Central Banks" released on the same day, the Bank of Korea stated, "As a result of examining overseas cases, most central banks are focusing on researching whether new future-oriented technologies can be applied to CBDCs," adding, "Korea will also implement an IT system incorporating the latest IT technologies such as distributed ledger technology, aiming to innovate and advance future payment systems."

It further added, "To this end, we are sharing information with domestic and international technology-holding companies, and plan to listen to expert opinions through the formation of an external technical advisory group in the future."

According to the Bank of Korea's analysis, central banks around the world manage their CBDCs in a decentralized manner, verifying the feasibility of CBDC implementation by utilizing various distributed ledger platforms such as Hyperledger Fabric and Corda. So far, the distributed ledger platform market has no clearly dominant technology due to competition among companies.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea analyzed 12 cases from 14 central banks whose research reports were publicly available for reference in the technical review for the CBDC pilot test. These included Norway, the Eastern Caribbean, the Bahamas, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Canada, Thailand, France, Hong Kong, and the European Central Bank (ECB).

The Bank of Korea plans to conduct the CBDC pilot test next year. It has set a goal to preliminarily review the technical and legal requirements for CBDC introduction within this year, and to build and test the pilot system for one year from January to December next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.