Metaverse Economy Revitalization Public-Private TF 3rd Meeting Held
Vice Minister Park Yoon-kyu Checks Metaverse Progress
'Metaverse Regulation Improvement Roadmap 2.0' Targeted for Year-End Announcement
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] To establish a sustainable growth foundation for the extended virtual world (metaverse), the Ministry of Science and ICT will announce the metaverse ethical principles at the Social Relations Ministers' Meeting on the 28th. The much-anticipated 'Metaverse Regulatory Improvement Roadmap 2.0' is being prepared with the goal of being announced by the end of the year.
On the 23rd, the Ministry of Science and ICT held the 'Metaverse Economic Revitalization Public-Private Task Force (TF)' at Vernect, a metaverse-specialized company located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, chaired by Deputy Minister Park Yoon-kyu. The meeting was attended by related ministries and private experts to introduce the metaverse ethical principles and regulatory improvement roadmap. This aims to enhance the completeness of the metaverse ethical principles and establish a pan-government cooperation system for proactive regulatory improvements.
Currently, the metaverse is entering the early growth stage, expanding from a game-centered introduction phase to various industrial and real-life fields such as industry, culture, and the public sector. The Ministry of Science and ICT noted that the unique attributes of the metaverse, such as virtual self, immersive experience, and virtual economy, can cause dysfunctions like unethical acts targeting the virtual self, digital divide, privacy invasion, and hindrance to creative activities.
The ethical principles present aspirational values and practical principles that metaverse participants?including developers, operators, and users (creators)?and direct or indirect stakeholders can use for voluntary purification efforts to create a safe and trustworthy metaverse ecosystem. As soft norms without legal enforceability, the ethical principles consist of aspirational values and practical principles applicable to metaverse participants and stakeholders to enhance individual and social well-being and the public good while contributing to economic development and innovation.
In the metaverse, where the boundary between reality and virtuality is blurred, the regulatory systems applied to economic, social, and cultural activities in reality cannot be identically applied in virtual spaces. Therefore, experts emphasize the need to establish a basis for a comprehensive negative regulatory system such as 'allow first - regulate later' to nurture the metaverse as a core industry of the 'Digital Strategy of the Republic of Korea.' They call for pan-government efforts to identify and resolve various issues, including personal information protection and copyright protection, reflecting the characteristics of the metaverse.
The Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the Office for Government Policy Coordination and related ministries, is conducting a second round of consultations on 38 tasks derived from 48 tasks identified considering the development of metaverse technology and the convergence and fusion expansion across various industrial fields.
Deputy Minister Park Yoon-kyu stated, "As seen in recent workforce reductions and investment adjustments by metaverse big tech companies, new industries always face both positive and negative views in their early growth stages." He added, "We will make efforts at the pan-government level to establish a foundation for our companies to lead the global market by improving regulations ahead of time and creating a healthy ecosystem where companies can grow."
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