On the 18th, Ministry of Science and ICT hosted a launching ceremony of “Metaverse Alliance(in short, Alliance)” which is formed around related industries and associations.

Metaverse is a compound word of “universe” meaning reality and ”meta“ meaning virtual reality and abstraction referring to a third-dimensional virtual reality where the boundary between reality and virtual reality disappeared. It is drawing attention as the next step with its concept where its users represented by avatars participate in virtual reality and participants in metaverse outnumber those in virtual reality.

Private companies including Hyundai Motors, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Naverlabs, Maxst, Virnect, Raon-Tech, three telecom companies, three major nationwide television networks, EBS, MBN, Kakaoenterprise, CJ ENM and Lotte World took part in Alliance.

Relevant organizations and associations include National IT Industry Promotion Agency(NIPA), Korea Radio Promotion Association(KoVRA), Korea VR·AR Industry Association(ETRI), National AI Research Institute(IITP), Korea Communications Agency(KCA), Korea Mobile Internet Business Association(MOIBA), Software Policy & Research Institute(SPRi).

An official from Ministry of Science and ICT said, “as part of ‘Convergence in Virtual Economy’ which is the building block of metaverse policies, an Alliance led by the private sector and supported by the government is formed to bring the digital new deal to life and be at the forefront of an era of metaverse.”

Alliance will be run being divided by a forum that shares trends in metaverse industry and technology, a legal advisor group for revision of legal system and review of ethical and cultural issues in the metaverse market, and a project group that discovers and designs a metaverse platform with businesses.

Ministry of Science and ICT is looking for various ways to support Alliance based on its suggestions. In particular, it is planning to focus on supporting an open metaverse platform to revitalize the metaverse ecosystem.

To that end, the ministry will work with the National IT Industry Promotion Agency to discover and design metaverse projects among businesses centered around metaverse hub. Also, it is planning to support the growth of metaverse businesses, production and demonstration of content and developer education.

Cho Kyeongsik, second vice minister of Ministry of Science and ICT said, “metaverse is not monopolized by a big business but a place for several businesses and entities to work alongside one another. Metaverse alliance led by the private sector will be at the center of cooperation.”

Pangyo Technovalley is an innovation hub for global companies comparable to the Silicon Valley in the US, Zhongguancun in China, and STATION F in France. It is an Asia tech hub with 1,259 IT, BT, CT, and NT companies that possess innovative products and technologies. Located just south of the metropolitan area, it provides the best environment for Korean companies to do business with great transportation access and infrastructure.

Various high-tech companies are located in Pangyo Technovalley, and it is occupied by 64,000 full-time employees, many in their 20-30s. In terms of industry, the companies are engaged in information technology, contents technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

With the support of innovative companies with global capabilities such as Kakao, Naver, AhnLab, Krafton, NCSoft, Nexon, and Hancom, companies in Pangyo Technovalley recorded 107 trillion won in sales last year. Investment and infrastructure growth in Pangyo is expected to continue, with the Metaverse hub entering Pangyo this year.