South Korea brings Seoul into the Metaverse, unveils virtual replica of capital city, aims to improve its public services.
The virtual world, called Metaverse Seoul, is expected to be completed by 2026. The initial phase invites citizens to use the avatars to answer their tax questions, get youth advice, find support for small businesses, and even read e-books.
In future stages, the virtual world will be extended to real estate and foreign investor services, combined with augmented reality to manage municipal infrastructure. It also plans to introduce blockchain technology, including cryptocurrencies.
South Korea has been expanding its Metaverse initiative as part of its "Digital New Deal" political initiative. In February 2022, the U.S. announced plans to allocate about $200 million to fund the Metaverse project, providing grants to universities and companies to help scale its technology. The Bank of Korea also reportedly completed testing a central bank digital currency in November.
South Korea isn't the only country investing heavily in the Metaverse. In October, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida laid out plans for the country to invest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Metaverse services.
