Seoul to Blockchain Firms: Take ‘Golden’ Chance to Gain Ground on US, EU

The South Korean government has called on the nation’s private sector to seize a “golden” opportunity to take the lead in the global blockchain market – and plans to fund a new spate of blockchain-related projects in its next budget.

Per Fn News, Seoul’s Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol held a special meeting with a number of blockchain-related firms and private sector experts on Apri 17, as part of a wider Financial Innovation Task Force initiative aimed at creating new growth engines.

Koo told attendees that the government believes that the size of the blockchain industry will grow by more than 80% per year on average, and mentioned the importance of “preemptive” action from the private sector, with “effective government support” to be provided “in stages.”

Koo stated,

“The technology gap [between South Korea] and advanced countries such as the United States and Europe will not be large for the next two to three years, so now is a golden time for [the tech race]. Please think of the best way to effectively support blockchain technology development to reduce the gap between South Korea and [Europe and the United States].”

He added that a number of government-backed public-private pilot blockchain projects had been green-lighted for rollout, but added that there was still a need for “reorganization.”

Koo added that the government was working on blockchain-related policy developments, but did not disclose the size of any further blockchain-related budget pledges.

The South Korean government usually issues its budget in autumn, and budget proposals are voted on in the National Assembly in December.