The Seoul Metropolitan Government has launched its Metaverse Seoul project, which allows residents of the South Korean capital to access municipal services in a virtual environment.
In a press conference held on January 16, the mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, announced the release of the first phase of Metaverse Seoul following the beta testing of the project. According to the mayor, the online environment will be a “communication place for citizens” of the capital, allowing them to virtually visit many of Seoul’s attractions, access official documents, file certain complaints, and receive answers to questions about the declaration. of municipal taxes.
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Apparently, the city government spent about 2 billion won – USD 1.6 million – on the first phase of the metaverse project. According to Oh, the second phase will involve making Metaverse Seoul more accessible to seniors who may have trouble getting to the municipal offices in person. More than 17% of the South Korean population was over the age of 65 in 2022, according to Statistica data.
South Korea, with one of the fastest internet connection speeds in the world for its 52 million residents, has led some of the initiatives around the metaverse and blockchain adoption as the space grows. Before FTX’s bankruptcy in November, the city of Busan announced plans to build an exchange in collaboration with FTX; subsequently, the local government abandoned many of its global centralized exchange partners.
Around the world, interest in the metaverse increased following Facebook’s rebranding to Meta in October 2021, with many companies announcing plans to open virtual offices. However, the crash of the cryptocurrency market and the fall of major platforms such as FTX, Voyager Digital and Celsius Network may have slowed its adoption in 2022.
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