Seoul Officially Launches Its Version in Metaverse

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Monday the launch of its public metaverse platform, marking the first major city to debut a metaverse platform for public services for its residents and tourists.

Named “Metaverse Seoul,” the platform allows users to file public documents, tour tourist destinations in Seoul, ask for advice for starting a business and seek help with taxes in addition to playing games, according to NFT Gators website.

Launched as a beta for a few thousand users in 2022, Metaverse Seoul is now available on Apple Store and Google Play for all users worldwide, not only for those who are in the South Korean capital. Chats are also translated into English for foreign users on the platform.

The Seoul government has a five-year roadmap for rolling out a full list of government services and activities covering the tourism, business, and cultural sectors. Citizens of Seoul on the platform’s first phase, which had been launched today, have access to official city paperwork, file complaints and get answers about local taxes.

Companies can also benefit from the virtual platform by holding meetings with experts to get consultations in different ways. In addition, visitors can play games at the Seoul Plaza virtual replica and tour ten of Seoul’s landmarks, which were recreated in the metaverse, including Bukchon Hanok Village, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul Forest Park, Han River and Lotte Tower.

In this regard, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon asserted the importance of the metaverse as a major tool of communication for citizens in the new normal, saying: “Metaverse Seoul “is an inclusive administrative service that everyone can take advantage of without any time and space obstacles.”

According to him, the project’s second phase will offer services for older people. For his part, Kim Jin-man, the director general of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Digital Policy Bureau, noted that the second and third phases will be launched in the coming three years, which are expected to include services in Chinese and Japanese.

The Seoul government spent around $1.8 million and is expected to spend an additional $2.26 million in 2023 on the second phase. The final phase will be launched in 2026.