The Ministry of ICT, Science, and Future Planning of South Korea intends to create a metaverse ecosystem as the country seeks to take the lead in the new virtual world.
South Korea’s Ministry of ICT, Science and Future Planning will spend $187 million to create a comprehensive Metaverse ecosystem to support the development of digital content and corporate growth within the country. According to an official statement, the money will be spent to meet four main objectives, which appear to be towards creating an expanded metaverse ecosystem, titled “Extended Virtual World.”
As per the statement, the government will use its Metaverse as a platform for expanding the virtual industrial growth of cities, education, and media. The Ministry will offer content creators support in different areas to attract the kind of talent that Content creators will enjoy support on multiple fronts to attract the right talent to help build the platform. The Ministry said it would host community-oriented creative activities, a Metaverse developer contest, and a hackathon.
Creating a world-class Metaverse ecosystem
The Ministry’s head of communication and policy development Park Yungyu said the initiative was part of the “Digital New Deal” movement by the Korean government. The initiative is meant to promote the growth of digital technologies in a country that has become renowned for its aggressive tech adoption. Park stated:
“It is important to create a world-class Metaverse ecosystem as the starting point to foster a new hyper-connected industry intensively.”
South Korea already regulates several other aspects of crypto
Speaking about the development, Simon Kim, the CEO of Korean Venture Capital firm Hashed, said that the government had taken a step in the right direction by creating a metaverse. He opined that different private enterprises are competing for space and have invested billions of dollars. It was only fitting for the government to have a fallback place for investors. Saying the Korean government already regulates several other aspects of crypto. Kim said:
“It is the regulatory issue that the government should pay more attention to. In Korea, publishing of NFT games is prohibited, and token issuance is also prohibited.”
South Korean Metaverse will have global reach
The ICT, Science, and Future Planning Ministry hopes their Metaverse will have a global reach since there will be seamless access to South Korean companies over time. The Ministry plans to support corporate growth by offering financial support and technological development.
Jason Ye, the co-founder of Multichain ecosystem accelerator DeSpread, referred to the government funding as a “positive signal” that it was interested in the Metaverse. He opined that due to the funding involved, opportunists who attempt to exploit it “should be filtered out,” and suggested that:
“Outstanding companies building a digital economy in the Metaverse will be able to thrive with the Korean government’s support.”
Even as pundits welcome the government’s initiative, there’s a concern about the presence of predators going after young children. Sarah Gardner, the vice president of external affairs at Thorn, a nonprofit that focuses on protecting children from online abuse, pointed out that abusers are always the first on new tech platforms. She stated:
“They see an environment that is not well protected and does not have clear systems of reporting. They’ll go there first to take advantage of the fact that it is a safe ground for them to abuse or groom kids.”
Tom is a freelance writer with over 10-years’ experience in content creation, blog writing, and SEO specializing in the blockchain and cryptocurrency niche. As a philosophical figurehead, he believes that to make our world a better place, we must invest in incorruptible products and procedures, of which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are leading examples.
