Seoul City Government Launches Seoul Metaverse Project for Citizen Service Access

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the launch of the first phase of the Seoul Metaverse (photo: Twitter @pdeepa)

JAKARTA - The Seoul Metropolitan Government has launched the Metaverse Seoul project, which allows residents of the South Korean capital city to access city services in a virtual environment.

In a January 16 press conference, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the launch of the first phase of Metaverse Seoul after beta testing the project.

According to the mayor, the online environment will become the capital's "place of communication for citizens," allowing them to visit many of Seoul's attractions virtually, access official documents, file certain complaints, and receive answers to questions about municipal tax filings.

The city government reportedly spent around 2 billion won (Rp 24.1 billion) on the first phase of the metaverse project. According to Oh, the second phase will involve making Metaverse Seoul more accessible to senior citizens, who may have difficulty getting to city offices in person. More than 17% of South Korea's population will be over 65 years old in 2022, according to data from Statistica.

Cointelegraph reported that South Korea, with one of the fastest internet connectivity speeds in the world for its 52 million inhabitants, has been leading several initiatives around metaverse and blockchain adoption as the space grows.

In August, the city of Busan announced plans to build a crypto exchange in partnership with FTX. After FTX collapsed last November, the regional government then opted for its many global centralized exchange partners.

Globally, interest in the metaverse has reportedly soared following Facebook's rebranding to Meta in October 2021, with many companies announcing plans to open virtual offices. However, the collapse of the crypto market and the collapse of major platforms including FTX, Voyager Digital, and Celsius Network may have slowed adoption in 2022.