Seoul Mayor Pledged $53.39 Million Fund for Blockchain Districts

A South Korean politician has pledged a $53.39 million fund to develop blockchain regions in Seoul, local media reported.

Park Won-soon, who is the mayor of the South Korean capital city, said their government would create two business complexes to settle 200 blockchain-related companies by 2021. The districts would also serve the purpose of training 730 experts in the field over the course of the next five years.

“There’s no doubt blockchain is the core technology of the fourth industrial revolution, which will shape the future IT industry. I will make efforts to help Seoul become the center of a blockchain industry ecosystem,” Park said during his 10-day diplomatic visit to Switzerland, Estonia, and Spain. The minister also signed a memorandum of understanding in Zurich to lay the foundation of their blockchain tie-ups.

Park, who has been a strong advocate of the digital ledger technology for public and government services, also visited Zug, Switzerland’s crypto valley, with his 30-person delegation. He studied the city’s business atmosphere and structure to realize the potential of his blockchain hub plans for Seoul, as he comes closer to launch a state-backed cryptocurrency, tentatively called S-Coin.

Seoul has committed a 100 billion-won public-private fund – almost $88.56 million – to invest in local startups, research centers, and to train workers in the field of the blockchain. The city’s efforts in digital ledger will focus on offering social services to citizens. S-Coin is a result of the government’s plans to fund public welfare programs or compensate private contractors. A blockchain-based asset should enable the Seoul municipalities to put expenditure details in public.

The city is planning to insert close to $12 million into the proposed fund.

Samsung SDS Partnership

In 2017, the Seoul government, under the mayorship of Park, entered into a partnership with Samsung SDS to create a blockchain development framework for the city. The company later started testing its proprietary blockchain protocol, the NexLedger, with a purpose to integrate it into the Seoul’s entire municipal cooperations by 2022. Just recently, the Municipality of Seoul and Samsung SDS announced that would build the world’s first exports customs clearance on the top of the blockchain. They had already tested the solution on a Korea-China shipment a year ago.

The South Koran government is also utilizing NexLedger in digital identity storage and verification, online payment solutions, and digital record storage systems. The local enterprises are also integrating the NexLedger range of solutions to innovate their IT solutions with blockchain.

Featured image from Shutterstock.