By Harry Ryoo, CEO of BDACS and Attorney at Law

Over the past three years, artificial intelligence has moved out of the lab and into the fabric of our daily lives and industries. We are already accustomed to conversational models like ChatGPT and Claude summarizing documents or writing code. Today, AI assists in diagnosing medical images, reviewing legal contracts, and predicting equipment failures on factory floors.

From Conversational Tools to Autonomous Agents

Yet, the AI industry’s center of gravity is shifting once again. We are witnessing a rapid evolution from passive, tool-based AI that merely answers prompts, to autonomous “AI Agents” capable of setting goals and executing complex, multi-step tasks.

Tell an AI agent to “handle this,” and it autonomously initiates a chain of judgments and actions. It gathers information, selects the right tools, interacts with other APIs, and delivers a finalized outcome. Ask a legacy AI to plan a four-day trip to Tokyo, and it gives you a text-based itinerary. An AI agent goes further: it searches for flights, books hotel rooms, purchases transit passes, and proactively secures alternatives if reservations fall through. AI is now executing the myriad micro-decisions once reserved for humans. Global tech giants like OpenAI, Google, Amazon, and Anthropic have aggressively pivoted toward this agent-driven model, with major tech firms in South Korea swiftly following suit.

The Imperative for Stablecoin-Based Payment Systems

This raises a critical question: If an AI agent books a flight and pays for a hotel, how is the actual payment processed? A human opens a wallet, types in a credit card number, enters an SMS verification code, and clicks “Agree.” An AI agent, however, has no physical wallet, no smartphone for two-factor authentication, and no fingers to click buttons. Furthermore, when AI agents exchange data or lease functionalities from one another, they require the ability to execute instantaneous, high-frequency microtransactions. Traditional payment rails are simply not built to handle this fundamentally different architecture.

This is where stablecoins enter the picture. As internet-native money pegged one-to-one with fiat currencies like the US Dollar or the Korean Won, stablecoins are perfectly suited for the machine-to-machine economy. Software programs can autonomously send and receive them without opening traditional bank accounts or navigating cumbersome authentication protocols. This allows even fractions of a cent to move frictionlessly, with final settlement occurring 24/7, completely agnostic to national borders.

In the era of autonomous AI, the very grammar of finance must be rewritten. This does not mean rendering existing credit card networks obsolete. Rather, it signifies the construction of a parallel, digital asset payment infrastructure explicitly designed for machine utilization. This is not a distant hypothetical. Since Coinbase launched a framework last year enabling AI agents to transact with one another, Amazon has integrated this payment network into its AI development platform by default. Meanwhile, legacy giants like Visa and Google are actively participating in consortiums to refine these standards. The global blueprint for AI-native payment infrastructure is rapidly taking shape.

Busan: A Natural Testbed for Cross-Border Transactions

Where does the city of Busan fit into this massive paradigm shift? Interestingly, the requirements for AI payment infrastructure align perfectly with Busan’s existing strategic assets.

Busan is a hub built on cross-border transactions. International logistics capital flows through its ports daily, foreign tourists drive high-frequency retail payments in commercial districts, and complex cross-border settlements are routine in its shipbuilding and maritime sectors. It is not difficult to imagine the impact of integrating AI agents into this ecosystem. An AI travel assistant could automatically process microtransactions for inbound tourists; a logistics AI could autonomously settle port tariffs and warehousing fees; and a vessel’s IoT sensors could pay for fuel and pilotage in real time.

This vision can materialize more naturally in Busan than almost anywhere else for three key reasons. First, as a designated Blockchain Regulation-Free Special Zone since 2019, Busan possesses the institutional agility to pilot innovative financial proofs of concept. Second, as the city accelerates its transition into a global maritime finance hub, there is a clear mandate and a blank canvas for a foundational digital payment infrastructure. Finally, Busan is a rare urban ecosystem where highly diverse industries intersect: tourism, shipping, shipbuilding, and logistics. For AI agent payments to reach maturity, diverse use cases must be validated simultaneously within a single, dynamic environment. Very few cities in the world offer this level of concentrated complexity.

Navigating the Shifting Financial Landscape

A new financial landscape is taking shape: one where AI is the transacting entity, stablecoins are the primary medium of exchange, and blockchain is the ultimate settlement layer. The profound question of “which currency will AI agents use to transact?” has now been posed to nations and cities alike. As a frontline city where this digital current meets the real economy, the strategic position Busan chooses to take will largely determine not only its own future but the broader trajectory of South Korea’s digital asset leadership.