Seoul Mayor Plans $100 Million Fund to Build Blockchain Smart City

The mayor of Seoul plans to invest $100 million over the next five years to develop the South Korean capital as a smart city powered by blockchain.

AccessTimeIconOct 8, 2018 at 6:00 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 8:27 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Park Won-soon, the mayor of Seoul, has revealed a five-year plan to invest $108 million to develop the South Korean capital as a smart city powered by blockchain.

In a speech during his visit to Zurich, Park announced last week that his Blockchain Urban Plan for 2018–2022 will cover 14 public services in five areas, with a government budget totaling 123.3 billion Korean won (around $108 million), according to a CoinDesk Korea report on Thursday.

Park added that major public services that will adopt blockchain include labor welfare, vehicle history management, certification issuance, donation management and elections voting.

The mayor explained, for instance, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will use the technology to protect part-time workers who don't have labor contracts or are not covered by employment insurance.

These workers will be able to register via a blockchain application that will be developed as part of the plan. After that, labor welfare organizations and insurance companies, which participate as running nodes, could share workers' information over a distributed network and decide on insurance schemes, the report said.

Park also indicated his administration aims to spend another 60 billion won, or about $53 million, building two complexes by 2021 to house 200 blockchain startups by utilizing parts of the Gaepo Digital Innovation Park and Mapo Seoul Startup Hub.

The plan comes just months after Park won the re-election campaign as Seoul's mayor in June. As CoinDesk previously reported, Park pledged as part of his campaign at the time that he would increase support for blockchain development in Seoul by developing the city's Mapo district as a center for blockchain incubation.

Seoul's blockchain effort is also in line with the roadmap announced by South Korea's Ministry of ICT, which said in June it would invest $9 million in the coming years to lead blockchain adoption in six major public services.

Park Won-soon image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.