The second vice-minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, YoonChul Gu, says “right now is the golden time to catch up with the developed countries’ blockchain technology because the gap has narrowed.”
The vice minister held a ‘Blockchain roundtable’ conference with the relevant institutions and private experts at the government office in Sejoin on the 17th. Prof. Park SooYong from SoGang University and Prof. Jeon JuYong from DongGuk University also participated in the event.
The conference is one of the “hands-on innovation-leading” projects that the government has planned as a part of the financial innovation TF. It was organized to discuss the technology and the current industry, while gathering expert opinions on the role of the government for the development of the industry.
The minister expected “the annual growth of blockchain industry by 80%” and explained that “other countries are advancing competitively in order to take the major role in the blockchain industry as it is considered very promising in the future.”
He added, “since the industry is not yet fully established, if our south Korea government provides an efficient support now, it’s possible we become the leader of the industry. The government especially should play a more active role in creating the initial market for the blockchain.” The vice minister suggested that “it is necessary to reorganize and select some public projects so that they can progress further as main projects, and the remaining pilot projects need help with systematic improvement as well.”
Mr. Gu explained that “because the gap between us and the US or Europe’s blockchain technology is not notable, we can catch up if we do it now” and that he expects the government to “regard a more constructive support system for making the advances in the blockchain technology.”
The representative of the Ministry said that “based on the contents of today’s conference, we plan to establish a blockchain development strategy through a consultation with related institutions and experts, and reflect it in the budget for the next year as well.”
