CoinWorld reported on January 15 that South Korea's National Assembly has voted to pass amendments to the "Capital Markets Act" and "Electronic Securities Act," marking the formal establishment of a framework for the issuance and circulation of security tokens (STOs) in the country approximately three years after financial regulators released relevant guidelines.

The core content of the amendments includes introducing the concept of distributed ledger technology, allowing issuers meeting certain conditions to directly issue and manage tokenized securities through electronic registration methods, and establishing a new "issuance account management institution." Additionally, atypical securities such as investment contract securities will be brought under the regulatory scope of the "Capital Markets Act" and permitted to circulate in over-the-counter markets through newly established over-the-counter brokerage business. The amendments to the "Capital Markets Act" take effect upon publication. However, provisions related to investment solicitation guidelines take effect six months after publication, and provisions related to over-the-counter trading take effect one year after publication.