The South Korean government announced on Thursday its “Blockchain Technology Development Strategy” to ensure a level of global competitiveness in this technology and to boost a market with enormous growth potential, as reads the official documentation. The strategy calls for an investment of about $210 million over the next four years.
According to the ministerial document, the market for blockchain technology is expected to grow, and South Korea wants to be part of it and become a “Blockchain Nation.”
The South Korean government will promote blockchain technology in the management of livestock products, personnel authorization, real estate transactions, online voting, international distribution of electronic documents, and shipping logistics.
The South Korean government wants to exploit the blockchain technology benefits to the maximum
In the project for the management of livestock products, developed in collaboration with a nutritional products division, the South Korean government aims to ensure access to a historical product dossier, so that “meat can be consumed with confidence.” To this end, they plan to share in a blockchain technology the information from the entire cycle, from breeding to the beneficiary process, so that the supervision and approval time is reduced from a maximum of 6 days to 10 minutes.
In the case of shipment management, all shipment orders, shipping manifests, and customs formalities will be stored in a blockchain, allowing for reduced customs clearance and logistics costs.
As for the procedures for processing a real estate mortgage, the South Korean government hopes to facilitate them by eliminating the process of moving to different public offices when a financing application is submitted. Also, it introduces an element of greater confidence for buyers, as the property records, once validated and stored in the blockchain technology, are unalterable.
Blockchain-As-A-Service (BaaS) is also wanted
In addition to establishing a roadmap for blockchain technology standardization, the South Korean government strategy also considers the development of Blockchain-As-A-Service (BaaS) service providers, so that small and medium-sized enterprises can quickly implement these subscription-based services.
In mid-April, South Korean entrepreneurs and academics called for less regulation and more support for blockchain technology, a request that is mostly met through the definition of this strategy by the South Korean government.
