Interest in won-backed stablecoins has grown sharply of late. At first glance, this digital asset — pegged one-to-one to the Korean won — looks attractive.

Voices of concern are equally loud, however. Because 'stablecoin' is readily associated with the dollar, the most common objection is whether a won-backed stablecoin could really circulate in global markets. Just as an app used only in Korea is useless in other countries, some point out that a won-backed stablecoin could end up a 'Galapagos coin' used only by Koreans. The current lack of clear use cases is also cited as a limitation.

One person has pushed back against this criticism: Professor Park Soo-yong of Sogang University's Department of Computer Science & Engineering. He argues that a won-backed stablecoin could instead become a strategic asset for Korea. If Korea sets sail against the vast wave of the dollar with K-pop as its sail, he says, it can open a new era of 'cultural finance' on a global stage. In the not-too-distant future, he suggests, the day may come when the music copyrights of idol groups — a recently popular song such as those from 'KPop Demon Hunters', for instance — are traded in won-backed stablecoins. Buying a share of a song's copyright with coins, receiving the monthly revenue in coins, and then spending those coins on merchandise would, he argues, expand the user base into the global market.

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He served as a visiting professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, as President of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), and as President of the Korean Society for Software Engineering. He currently serves concurrently as Dean of Sogang University's Graduate School of AI-SW and Dean of the College of Computing, leading the Blockchain and Software Engineering Laboratory. Drawing on this academic background, Professor Park explains the innovative change that combining stablecoins with K-pop could bring about.

Q. Some argue that a won-backed stablecoin would struggle to compete in a dollar-centred market.

That criticism is common, but what we need is a clear answer to why people should use a won-backed stablecoin. The key is a killer app — an attractive use case that makes people want to use it of their own accord. A strategy that combines stablecoins with the industries in which Korea is strong, and cultural content such as K-pop in particular, is effective.

Q. What does combining K-pop content with stablecoins actually mean?

It goes beyond simply using them as a means of payment. K-pop, with its powerful fandom worldwide, is a market with enormous potential. The MZ generation at the core of the K-pop fandom is comfortable with digital assets and has no aversion to new methods of payment or investment. They are also interested in ways of sharing in an artist's success that go beyond simple consumption.

Q. So would it become possible for overseas fans to buy K-pop music copyrights?

Yes. At present, complex revenue settlement structures and the limits of cross-border financial systems make it difficult for overseas fans to invest directly in K-pop copyrights. But if K-pop copyrights are tokenized as digital assets and traded in won-backed stablecoins, all of those barriers disappear. Overseas fans too can invest in copyrights and receive a share of the revenue without constraints of time or place.

Q. Do you see a circular structure in which fans buy K-pop copyrights, receive the returns back in coins, and use them to buy merchandise?

This is the most essential model. A fan buys a copyright with won-backed stablecoins and receives the resulting revenue back in coins. If those coins are then spent on merchandise or other content, the won-backed stablecoin ecosystem naturally becomes more robust and its base of real usage expands. This virtuous circle benefits fans, creators and the national economy alike. Fans share in the success of the artists they love, and creators can secure more capital to devote to producing content. It also attracts foreign capital, which has a positive effect on the national economy.

Q. What is the biggest change this fusion of culture and finance would bring?

It would lay the foundation for Korea to move beyond exporting content and become a cultural-finance nation that turns content itself into a financial asset. A system that digitizes tangible content assets such as K-pop copyrights and trades them in stablecoins could become the most compelling case of real-world asset tokenization. This goes beyond simply earning foreign currency: by drawing in global capital on the basis of content, it will raise Korea's standing within the financial system. In the end, the won-backed stablecoin, together with K-pop, could be a game changer in the global digital asset market.

Source: Trading 'KPop Demon Hunters' Music Rights in Won-Backed Stablecoins? The Man Behind an Unconventional Argument — Maeil Business Newspaper https://www.mk.co.kr/news/business/11389457