Stephanie Douse 
For a country that sees a future in the metaverse and all it entails, the government of South Korea will provide $186.7 million to stimulate the growth of a Metaverse platform that will support the expansion of digital content and corporate growth in the country.
The Ministry stated in an official statement on Feb. 27 that monies will be used to complete four primary objectives in the creation of the Expanded Virtual World, which looks to be an all-encompassing Metaverse environment.
The government agency plans to use its Metaverse to expand the virtual industrial expansion of cities, education, and media.
Content makers will be aided in attracting the best personnel to help expand the platform on several fronts. According to the Ministry, community-oriented creative events, a Metaverse developer contest, and a hackathon will be held.
The new Metaverse platform, according to Hashed CEO Simon Kim, focuses on increasing commercial expansion by giving financial support to players. He told Cointelegraph today that he doesn’t think the government should subsidize the metaverse because “the private sector is actively investing in the market.” He went on to say:
“It is the regulatory issue that the government should pay more attention to. In Korea, publishing of NFT games is prohibited, and token issuance is also prohibited.”
Hashed is a crypto ecosystem venture capital and incubator based in South Korea. Decentraland and The Sandbox are two Metaverse initiatives in which it has invested.
The metaverse platform is South Korea’s ‘Digital New Deal
Park Yungyu, the Ministry’s Head of Communication and Policy Department, indicated in the announcement that the initiative to establish a Metaverse platform is part of South Korea’s broader ‘Digital New Deal.’ According to Park, the Digital New Deal is a series of policies aimed at fostering the growth of digital technology.
“It is important to create a world-class Metaverse ecosystem as the starting point to intensively foster a new hyper-connected industry.”
Because there would be seamless access to South Korean enterprises over time, the Ministry intends its Metaverse to have a worldwide reach. It intends to help corporate growth by providing financial assistance and technology advancement.
Since last year, Seoul’s municipal government has been considering its alternatives for a public Metaverse site. The tentative plans for a “Metaverse 120 Center” were announced last November.