- South Korea will boost the “metaverse” with the support and investment of its government.
- Role of the Ministry of Science and ICT to support the country’s emerging industry.
- The nascent industry lurks with an immense amount of opportunity.
The South Korean authorities showed their interest in early 2022 to ‘break’ the metaverse, declaring in January an investment of 170 million dollars in concept of VR (virtual reality) and potential technology.
efforts to win
Yoon Suk-yeol, President of South Korea, declared that technology is the country’s priority, with the aim of laying the foundation for the nation to emerge in the top five in the global metaverse by 2026. The Ministry of Science and Technologies The Information and Communications Commission (ICT) released a non-binding set of ethics guidelines at a meeting held on the topic “Ethical Principles of the Metaverse” on November 28, 2022.
As venture capitalist Matthew Ball describes it: “The metaverse is an expansive network of worlds and persistent, real-time 3D simulations that support the continuity of identity, objects, history, payments, and rights, and can be experienced synchronously for unlimited cash. number of users, each with an individual sense of presence,” according to The Verge.
According to the New York Times, Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook’s CEO, changed the company’s name to Meta and eventually became a “metaverse company” in October 2021. He is eager for his vision to inhabit billions of humans in an immersive virtual world for endless hours. who will be busy spending time working, playing, dating and socializing within virtual and augmented worlds. The dream of the metaverse replacing the Internet does not seem far off.
strong contender
According to media reports, South Korea is the 13th largest economy in the world in terms of GDP and has the 4th largest gaming market, accounting for $8.3 billion in revenue from 33 million gamers in 2021. Nathan Lenga, an analyst who has researched South Korea’s metaverse strategy said: “But 50% of people in Korea actually reported that their daily dose of entertainment was gaming. So, it’s very, very immersed and just integrated into their culture.”
According to CNBC, South Korea’s Science and ICT Minister Lim Hyesook considered the metaverse “an unexplored digital continent with undefined potential.” The South Korean government is among the first to invest in the fledgling industry, with a plan to boost support for organizations and create job opportunities.
According to news reports, South Korea’s “Digital New Deal” discussed creating a foundation for industry growth, investing billions of dollars in the hope of generating more than 2 million new jobs. Tech journalist Nina Xiang noted that “other Asian countries don’t have similar types of metaverse programs in scale and scope as the South Korean government’s.”
