Speaking at the Group of Thirty (G30) International Banking Seminar in Bangkok, Thailand, held alongside the G20 and International Monetary Fund meetings, Shin outlined the central bank's plans to expand its large-value payment network, BOK-Wire, internationally.
The proposed system would allow cross-border won payments without requiring accounts at domestic banks, marking a step toward improving international payment efficiency.
Shin said the 1997 Asian financial crisis had made countries including South Korea cautious about opening up their payment systems and financial markets, but that it was time to move forward.
"All settlements are made in central bank money," Shin said, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the singleness of money across payment systems.
"The singleness of money is absolutely crucial," he added, particularly in wholesale finance, where reliable and consistent settlement is essential.
Shin said central banks have an important role in overcoming obstacles to cross-border payments through improvements to settlement infrastructure.
He also warned that the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in finance could create new risks to financial stability as financial institutions increasingly adopt similar strategies, potentially amplifying market shocks.
Describing AI as a "very clever black box," Shin highlighted its limited transparency and the challenges it poses for regulators.
"The lack of transparency is something we are already familiar with from a series of financial crises," he said, pointing to traditional safeguards such as capital requirements, leverage limits and collateral.
Shin compared the risks to the Millennium Bridge incident in London, where pedestrians adjusting their movements to maintain balance unintentionally amplified the bridge's swaying.
Similarly, financial institutions responding to market stress in similar ways could collectively intensify instability, he explained.
Shin stressed that reducing leverage, strengthening capital buffers and reinforcing financial safeguards remain essential to maintaining stability as AI becomes more widely adopted in financial markets.
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