South Korea CBDC Pilot Skipped Post-Launch Security Audit

Maeil Business Newspaper noted that the operator was effectively left in charge of evaluating the security of its own operation. An industry official quoted by that outlet said "the real-transaction pilot is a process of building public trust, not just technological verification" and that it is problematic for the same organization to create, test and certify the security of its own CBDC system.

The Financial Services Commission approved an expansion of Project Hangang on July 15. Gyeongnam Bank and iM Bank are being added, bringing the total to nine institutions. The wallet limit rises from 100,000 to 500,000 users, and the individual amount increases from 1 million to 10 million won. New features include person-to-person transfers, biometric authentication, automatic top-ups and programmable government subsidy payments.

The documents were submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to the office of representative Lee Hun-seung on July 20.

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.