South Korea's central bank seeks technology partners to build a digital currency pilot platform

South Korea's central bank said on Monday it will select a technology vendor to build a pilot platform for digital currency, taking a step toward establishing a central bank-backed digital currency. The Bank of Korea said it is looking for partners through an open bidding process to study the practicality of launching a central bank digital currency in a test environment. The platform will contain simulations of commercial banks and retail outlets, and the pilot will include payments, fund transfers and deposits via mobile phones. The pilot program will run from August to December this year and could be expanded to a second phase next year.