South Korean president calls for greater regulation of blockchain

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On July 25, South Korean President Moon Jae-In issued a statement in which he called for greater regulation of blockchain technology. The president declared that this is vital for the success of this innovation within his country.

In the release, the South Korean President issued a statement stressing the importance in developing new regulations governing technologies that are using blockchain technology. This comes on the heels of Busan City being chosen as a regulation-free zone.

In the press release, Moon made a parallel between the industrialization in other areas to that of this fourth Industrial Revolution, calling for new regulatory innovation. “While regulatory innovation in the era of industrialization was a matter of choice, it is now a question of survival as we are experiencing the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by fusions across industries and fields.”

Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and had been selected as a regulation-free zone in April. This means that the South Korean government would minimize any regulatory governance or regulation within the region, increasing the opportunity for technological innovation.

It is hoped that by creating such a zone that it will greatly improve the implementation of blockchain applications in four primary areas, including public safety, finance, logistics, and tourism. Each area will have a different company heading the design and creation of blockchain applications.

Moon would now like to see this technology used across the country to help improve the lives of its citizens in such areas as personal data security, while also helping to rejuvenate local economies. Providing regulation will help to give the companies a foundation on which to operate within South Korea.

The release by the president has come at an opportune time. Since the crypto craze began to regress in 2017, South Korea has morphed into one of the leading countries on the globe in the development of blockchain technology. This has led to such innovation as blockchain-based voting systems and other distributed ledgers being developed.

Moon has been a true innovator when it has comes to this type of technology, not only encouraging investment in blockchain startups but also pushing for the development of applications that would help to improve overall efficiency in almost every area of South Korea.

This has not come without hiccups, however. In September 2017, a government ban on ICOs seemed to be a policy of killing a fly with a grenade, but it has been another step by the president to help ensure the integrity and development of this technology within South Korea. Now the call is to create greater regulation to ensure that companies have the opportunity to thrive.