The Bank of Korea and nine banks launch the second phase of testing for the digital won.

PANews reported on March 18th, citing CoinDesk, that the Bank of Korea, in conjunction with nine commercial banks, launched the second phase of its digital won pilot program. This phase tests bank-issued deposit tokens pegged to the won on a wholesale CBDC infrastructure for nationwide payments and government subsidy disbursements. Kyonnam Bank and iM Bank have joined this phase, focusing on verifying fee reductions in large-scale transaction scenarios and alleviating the burden of credit card fees for large enterprises and small merchants. Previously difficult-to-implement peer-to-peer transfers will be available in this phase. The government plans to distribute some subsidies in digital currency in the first half of this year, prioritizing applications such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and exploring the feasibility of using digital currency as a payment method for AI agents.