South Korea’s National Metaverse Project Bags KRW 223.7 Billion in Government Funding

The metaverse project is aimed at nurturing the creator economy of South Korea on a global level.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 28 February 2022 17:36 IST

South Korea’s National Metaverse Project Bags KRW 223.7 Billion in Government Funding

Photo Credit: Pixabay/ Heung Soon

Last year, Seoul had announced plans of becoming first South Korean city in metaverse

Highlights

Official name of the metaverse project not announced yet
South Korea to hold metaverse development contest
Selected individuals to be part of metaverse creation team

South Korea is planning a fully functional metaverse ecosystem aimed at supporting digital worlds of corporate and content in the country. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of South Korea has allocated KRW 223.7 billion (roughly Rs. 1,400 crore) towards the development of this national metaverse project. The metaverse is a virtual world, where people can work and socialise as digital avatars. The sector has been stirring major intrigue among many nations and companies of late.

The platform will be supported by other decentralised sectors like cryptocurrency, and will focus on nurturing the creator economy, government authorities of South Korea said on February 27.

“The Ministry of Science and ICT through the 'Expanded Virtual World New Industry Leading Strategy' aims to creating a sustainable and expanded virtual world ecosystem based on public-private partnerships. Focus also on inter-company collaboration, technology development, and regulatory innovation so that domestic companies can compete with global companies,” said the South Korean ministry.

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The government will be hosting creative activities, a metaverse developer contest, as well as a hackathon to select the best team to be part of this project.

Cryptocurrencies make for an integral part of the metaverse as they allow us to calculate the value of digital assets in fiat currency and their returns over time.

Along with cryptocurrency, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have also been making quite the noise in South Korea. NFTs are blockchain-based digital collectibles inspired by literally anything — from music to sports achievements.

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In January, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate from South Korea's ruling Democratic Party of Korea disclosed plans of issuing NFTs to his supporters who donate their money to his election campaign.

In November 2021, South Korean brand GS Shop, operated by GS Retail, introduced a TV home shopping broadcast using metaverse.

On November 10, the South Korean military reportedly announced that it would phase in metaverse applications to soldier training programmes by the 2030s.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has also announced plans of making Seoul the first South Korean city to enter the metaverse.

By 2023, Seoul hopes to create a metaverse "allowing citizens to conveniently meet with avatar officials to deal with civil complaints and consultations, which are currently handled only by visiting municipal offices." https://t.co/cl6KiqldPX
— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) November 3, 2021

Research reports expect the market opportunity for the metaverse to reach $800 billion (roughly Rs. 59,58,719 crore) by 2024.

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Further reading: Metaverse, South Korea, South Korea Metaverse Project, NFT, Non Fungible Token, Cryptocurrency

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More