Park Won-soon, mayor of Seoul, South Korea, announced last week at a conference in Zug, the crypto valley of Switzerland, a Blockchain Urban Plan to turn the South Korean capital into a smart city by 2022, based on blockchain technology. The project requires an investment of $108 million and covers 14 public services in five areas, according to local sources.
Among the areas covered by the plan presented by Won-soon are the management of vehicle records, non-duplicable elections, management of donations, and labor protection. It is part of the program that the first decentralized services serve as a “test bed” and then undertake the innovation of all administrative services of the metropolitan government, the official said.
In the area of labor protection, for example, the city and the private sector can draw up a smart contract for part-time workers or those not covered by insurance policies. The agreement will determine the type of coverage that corresponds to each worker, according to the hours worked, as well as automate the payroll.
Park Wan-soon explained that by 2022, 200 companies focused on blockchain technology are expected to be operating and that 73 of them will already be active as of 2019. These companies will work in collaboration with the technology business accelerator Gaepo Digital Innovation Park and Mapo Seoul Startup Hub.
South Korea plans to invest $100 million in blockchain technology and crypto exchange
“There are many areas where blockchain technology is applied (…) I will contribute to the activation of the industry by applying it to management, to this end we will create an environment where companies can work freely and cultivate their talent,” said Park Won-soon
Metropolitan Mayor of Seoul, South Korea.
This initiative could have positive effects on the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology ecosystem, a field in which South Korea is one of the leading countries. Until the beginning of this year, the trade in crypto coins was not regulated in any way, and it deprived the participants of self-regulation in that ecosystem.
Seven months ago, the South Korean financial authorities established a set of measures that regulate the cryptocurrency exchange, along with the Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Also, South Korea implemented strict Know-Your-Customer (KYC) policies.
Such measures, according to local media, have not had the expected effects. The new identification system for crypto exchange platforms, for example, has only been adopted by 4 of the trading platforms, namely, Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, and Coinoine.
