By Alicia Maher
The Metaverse remains the end game for brands and companies in various sectors to connect with their customers and drive the adoption of their merchandise and content. Even countries are now in the mix, with South Korea becoming the latest to show interest in developing its metaverse platform.
In the early hours of today, the Ministry of ICT committed to developing a vast metaverse project called Expanded Virtual World that will support the growth of the country’s digital content. To execute the ambitious project, the government has pledged about $187 million.
The Metaverse Project Caters to Key Sectors of the Economy
According to a statement put out on the Ministry’s website on Sunday, the metaverse platform intends to achieve some objectives in key sectors of the economy. The Ministry indicated that the virtual world would boost the industrial growth of infrastructures, education, and media.
The statement reads that the government will support content creators to attract top talents to help develop the project. It also read that the Ministry will organize a community-oriented activity and a hackathon to identify technically-inept developers.
Speaking of South Korea’s new Expanded Virtual World project, CEO of Hashed, a prominent VC and incubator Simon Kim, demystified that the new platform lay emphasis on enhancing commercial expansion, and the one way to do that is to offer financial support to content creators and developers,
Kim, who has invested in Decentraland and other metaverse projects, further talked about the regulatory issue and government funding, adding that he doesn’t see any cause for alarm. About the regulatory issue, he advised the government to keep an eye on it.
Connecting the World Through Digital Technology
Park Yungyu, who works at the Ministry, stated that developing a Metaverse ecosystem is part of the country’s “Digital New Deal” initiative. This initiative comprises policies that will foster the development of a highly connected world based on digital technology.
Aside from providing financial support to individuals, the government will also fund corporate growth and allow companies operating within the jurisdiction to access the platform. Yungyu thinks the virtual universe will be widely adopted.
Jason Ye of DeSpread, a DeFi accelerator, shared his excitement about the new project from the government. He said that companies would thrive in the Metaverse with the government’s support. He added that opportunists would be filtered out easily with the funding.
Various public and private sectors in South Korea have been making plans tentatively to venture into the Metaverse since 2021. A few months ago, Seoul City announced the development of the “Metaverse 120 Center,” with plans to finalize the project by 2023. During the same period, the Korean military said soldier training programs will be conducted in the virtual world before the end of the 2030s.