Chainlink has agreed a strategic partnership with LG CNS, the technology contractor leading the Bank of Korea’s Project Hangang, as it seeks to expand regulated digital asset infrastructure in South Korea.
Announced on Thursday, the agreement will bring Chainlink’s oracle services and Web3 computing capabilities into LG CNS’ Digital Asset Platform Solution. The partnership is aimed at financial institutions developing blockchain applications within a regulated framework and targets a cryptocurrency market worth $68 billion, with more than 11 million eligible users.
The two companies will also work together on technical standards as South Korean policymakers and businesses develop rules for cryptocurrency-based financial products.
Chainlink’s technology provides external data to blockchain applications, connects separate networks and helps coordinate transactions across different platforms. Under the agreement, those functions could be used to support stablecoin distribution, allowing organisations to examine how tokenised money might be transferred between systems that are not otherwise compatible.
LG CNS is the lead contractor for Project Hangang, the Bank of Korea’s digital currency initiative. It is responsible for the programme’s development, operation and infrastructure expansion.
The first phase of Project Hangang involved about 80,000 customers across seven South Korean banks. That work has given LG CNS experience in digital payment systems. The company is a technology subsidiary of South Korea’s LG Group, whose parent conglomerate has approximately 186 trillion won in assets across 63 affiliates. Its subsidiaries have a combined valuation of more than $100 billion.
“Korea’s financial infrastructure is entering the tokenization era,” said Hongkeun Kim, executive vice president and head of LG CNS’ Digital Business Division.
Kim also said international expansion was an objective of the partnership, although no further details were provided.
According to data cited by Chainlink and confirmed by Bitcoin.com News, South Korea is Asia’s second-largest cryptocurrency market. The Korean won is also behind only the U.S. dollar in global cryptocurrency trading volume.
Tokenised securities are another possible area of development. Financial companies are increasingly examining how blockchain could be used to represent traditional investment instruments in digital form.
Chainlink already has relationships with Swift, Euroclear, Mastercard and UBS, giving the company links with several major financial organisations.
However, the announcement did not disclose financial terms, name any customers or provide a timetable for commercial deployment. It also did not say that Chainlink’s technology would be integrated directly into Project Hangang.
