The mayor of the South Korea city of Seoul, Park Won-soon lately declared that the blockchain technology would soon be integrated in citizen cards in the city. The report was published by Queen.co.kr on May 20.
The mayor has been participating in the recent “Korea Future Forum (KFF) 2019 & Blockchain Tech Show.” According to him, the city is accepting new technologies which are shaping the world, such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology. During the event, he stressed on the point that the role of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) in order to store data, accepting that the value of data is even more important than it was before.
He confirmed that the city of Seoul will use Blockchain Technology in order to gather data from urban and administrative offices and then allow new services like integrated authentication system of citizen cards and to build tools which will ease the access to some of the administrative services in the city.
Seoul is fully ready for the change too. Moreover, Park highlighted that the Seoul authorities have already provided some administrative services using blockchain technology before the latest initiative. For example, a mobile e-voting system is being formed and a system for car sales.
Before this event, Park has shown some confidence in the power of blockchain technology. Earlier in 2018, the mayor initiated a plan which will take five years in order to build a powerful blockchain industry in the country. According to this plan, the city would invest around $12 million USD on $88 million USD blockchain for the growth of the nation.
In February 2019, the Seoul Metropolitan Government declared a move in which it would invest around $1 billion in blockchain and tech startups by 2022.
From this, we can say that South Korea is investing in Blockchain more than any other country in the world. The regulation is also started in the country so that firms can operate properly and some of the regulatory sandboxes are formed right now.