South Korea's KT enters won stablecoin race with Token Factory initiative

South Korea's KT Corp. plans to invest 18 trillion won ($13.2 billion) over three years, with a significant portion directed at a "Token Factory" and won-backed stablecoin infrastructure, the company said Thursday.

Chief Executive Park Yoon-young unveiled the plan during his first press briefing since taking office, Digital Daily reported. The investment splits into 6 trillion won for AI infrastructure and 12 trillion won for network and IT upgrades, including 4 trillion won earmarked for cybersecurity. KT said it will adopt a zero-trust security model, separate the roles of chief information security officer and chief privacy officer, recruit external specialists, and double the size of its cybersecurity workforce.

A central piece of the digital asset strategy is the Token Factory. KT plans to build a platform that combines its planned 1GW AI data centre network with token optimisation software and its existing billing system to support token creation and brokerage. The company said the factory will also handle billing for tokenised assets.

Alongside the token platform, KT intends to enter the stablecoin market. The company said it will combine the customer base of K Bank, which has around 16 million users, with BC Card's merchant network of 3.5 million merchants and KT's own communications and security infrastructure. The goal is to support the full stablecoin lifecycle: issuance, custody, settlement, and payments.

The broader investment programme includes 5 trillion won to build additional AI data centre capacity based on customer demand, expanding total capacity to 1GW. Another 1 trillion won will go into submarine cables to increase international network capacity by more than 90Tbps while linking central AI data centres with edge computing facilities for low-latency AI services. KT also committed roughly 12 trillion won to strengthen its telecom infrastructure over the next three years, with 8 trillion won funding network technologies including 6G and satellite communications.

Partnerships will expand beyond KT's existing collaboration with Microsoft. The company said it plans to work with global AI firms including Google and Palantir, and with South Korean companies such as Upstage and Rebellions.

KT's stablecoin announcement comes as South Korea's financial and technology sectors accelerate blockchain payment projects. President Lee Jae-myung pledged in June to allow companies to issue won-backed stablecoins, though the legal framework remains incomplete. (See: Won Stablecoin Pilots Work. South Korea's Law Still Doesn't.)

This week, the K-STAR consortium and BNK Busan Bank completed a proof of concept for a blockchain-based local currency that processed payments and settlements in under one second with a reported 100% transaction success rate. The consortium said the same infrastructure could later support government subsidies, central bank digital currency services, and won-backed stablecoins.