South Korea Aiming to Control the Metaverse

South Korea is making moves to ensure it has a strong foothold in the blossoming metaverse.

In a January 20 press release, South Korea’s Ministry of Science announced a pan-government strategy on the metaverse as part of the country’s "Digital New Deal 2.0" initiative.

“This strategy will help South Korea to better respond to disruptive innovation and emerging new technologies, and be prepared for the future.”

Lim Hyesook, minister of the government branch, said:

“[The] metaverse is an uncharted digital continent with indefinite potential. Anyone can realize their dreams. In particular, [the] metaverse will become a place where the youth can take up more challenges, grow and leap forward [into] a greater world. The Ministry will [make sure] to implement the diverse support strategies faithfully, so that [South Korea] can become a leading global metaverse country.”

South Korea’s metaverse strategy will focus on four main subjects, according to the announcement.

• Reinvigorate the metaverse platform ecosystem, and foster an environment for the metaverse platforms to grow.
• Nurture experts and talent in the metaverse field, and provide people with opportunities to access the metaverse without regional restrictions, and to participate in a variety of metaverse events.
• Nurture leading companies specialized on the metaverse. To this end, metaverse infrastructure like demonstration facilities and diverse types of funds will be provided.
• Create an exemplary metaverse world. This includes setting ethical principles for the metaverse so as to prevent unethical and illegal conducts while protecting digital assets and copy right. The government will also strive to address the digital divide among people by providing metaverse education to the digitally marginalized people.

In a recent report, economics professor at Dongguk University Park Sun-young told Forkast that the country's gaming and popular culture are its main advantages in the metaverse race.

“Korea’s content industry, such as entertainment, movies and drama series, are gaining global popularity,” he said. “As NFT is inevitably intertwined with intellectual property, the current global popularity of Korea’s content market will be advantageous.”