The metaverse is a term that encompasses various fields such as virtual reality, augmented reality, digital economy, social interactions, and interoperability. In recent years, South Korea has become a leader in this field. This innovative leap is the result of a great amount of investments, government funding, and research.
The Seoul Metaverse Project
The Seoul Metaverse project, launched by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is an ambitious project that aims to create a comprehensive virtual replica of Seoul. It is a platform that provides a new way of offering public services, hosting cultural experiences, and having social interactions. After its official launch in early 2023, the service attracted an average of 1,130 visitors daily for a week. Citizens, as virtual characters, visited every corner of the City Hall and Seoul Plaza, and even shook hands with or high-fived Mayor Oh Se-hoon's avatar. However, the interest has rapidly decreased over time as they did not find many reasons to use the metaverse for essential city services like paying taxes or issuing certificates. They also found it cumbersome to get a certificate in the metaverse, as they needed to install the Seoul city's blockchain-based 'Seoul Wallet' app separately. Nonetheless, the Seoul Metaverse project shows how the metaverse can change city life and governance, from online city tours to electronic government services.
The Metaverse for Korean Language Education
Systems have been developed to provide Korean language education for international residents through the metaverse. For instance, users collect Korean consonants to use as currency within the metaverse system, and can share and reward them to other people in the community. Another example is a system that provides word chain game service using gamification, where users can create educational games themselves and make them accessible to other users. The games involve entering words based on certain criteria, helping international residents improve their vocabulary.
Mark Zuckerberg’s visit to South Korea
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social metaverse company Meta, visited South Korea for the first time in ten years on February 21. The purpose of the visit was to meet with Cho Joo-wan, the CEO of LG Electronics, to discuss their collaboration on the design and production of a virtual reality (VR) headset, Quest. Cho elaborated that their meeting was focused on mixed reality (MR) devices, implementing Meta’s large language model ‘Llama’ in AI devices, and the acceleration of LG Electronics’ extended reality (XR) business through strategic collaboration with Meta. Cho mentioned that while the concept is nearly complete, the commercialization timeline might be delayed to reflect the market demands. Zuckerberg is also meeting with Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, to promote collaboration especially on AI chip supply and other generative AI issues.