Seoul government opens city's metaverse project to public

According to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the virtual environment will allow residents to access official documents, file complaints, and receive answers to questions on filing taxes.

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

In a Jan. 16 press briefing, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the launch of the first phase of Metaverse Seoul following beta testing of the project. According to the mayor, the online environment will be a “place of communication for citizens” of the capital city, allowing them to virtually visit many of Seoul’s attractions, access official documents, file certain complaints, and receive answers to questions on filing municipal taxes.

‘메타버스 서울’ 내놓은 오세훈 “독자적 구축이 바람직” https://t.co/7D6Jqmojni

PK되면 갓겜될 듯 pic.twitter.com/s6ovgnDOQl

— 돌으 (@fangdor) January 16, 2023

The city’s government reportedly spent roughly 2 billion won — $1.6 million — for 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 trouble commuting to city offices in person. More than 17% of South Korea’s population was more than 65 years old as of 2022, according to data from Statistica.

South Korea, with one of the fastest internet connectivity 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. Prior to FTX’s collapse in November, the city of Busan announced plans to build a crypto exchange in collaboration with FTX — the local government subsequently dropped many of its global centralized exchange partners.

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