South Korean bakery shop introduces bitcoin payments

A bakery shop has started accepting payments in bitcoin, an electronic currency, for the first time in South Korea, the shop operator said Tuesday, heralding the arrival of a new payment system and a new form of currency in the country. The franchise shop in Incheon, just west of Seoul, introduced the payment system on Sunday through which customers can buy goods with bitcoins, according to the operator Lee Jong-soo. Bitcoin is a digital currency used for online and offline purchases and is also traded like stocks on various exchanges. The new kind of currency, however, is not backed by physical assets and its value depends on the public's confidence in the currency.