[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-sun] The Korea Optical Industry Promotion Agency (Director Jin Gwang-sik) announced on the 3rd that the 'K-Eyewear Metaverse Platform Construction Project' passed the National Assembly plenary session on December 23 last year, securing 5 billion KRW in government funding over three years.
The 'K-Eyewear Metaverse Platform Construction Project' aims to discover new industries by integrating key metaverse technologies such as blockchain technology (NFT) and digital twin with the optical industry, with a total government budget of 5 billion KRW provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Daegu City from 2023 to 2025. The project’s purpose is to create future growth engines and revitalize the industry.
The Promotion Agency has been preparing the project in close cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Daegu City to secure future growth drivers for the domestic optical industry amid the government's tight fiscal situation, which makes securing government funding difficult.
In particular, they made persistent efforts in various ways, including continuous communication with the National Assembly and central government to emphasize the necessity of budget support, resulting in securing the entire national budget after passing the National Assembly plenary session.
The main contents of the project include building a blockchain-based eyewear design NFT platform, developing a digital twin eyewear manufacturing process solution, securing digital assets, and supporting product commercialization business.
In the first year (2023), an NFT-based eyewear platform will be built that digitally creates eyeglass designs virtually and enables trading and sharing using non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Through this, the project plans to supply and spread designs lacking in the industry and support product history management and forgery prevention.
In the second year (2024), core data necessary for the platform will be secured through pilot operation, and from the third year (2025), the metaverse platform will be activated through eyewear design NFT certification, verification, and dissemination.
This budget acquisition was largely due to the efforts of Yang Geum-hee, a member of the National Assembly’s Industry, Trade, and Energy Committee from the People Power Party representing Daegu Buk-gu Gap.
Representative Yang said, “I focused intensively on securing this national budget for the re-leap of the optical industry in the Daegu region, which is facing difficult circumstances,” and added, “I will continue to do my best for the development of the optical industry and the revitalization of the local economy.”
Jin Gwang-sik, Director of the Korea Optical Industry Promotion Agency, said, “The optical industry is no longer a declining industry to the extent that the government feels the necessity of budget support,” and added, “This project will serve as a catalyst to transform the optical industry into an advanced convergence optical industry, and we will pool our wisdom and capabilities until the day when 8 billion people worldwide wear advanced smart glasses.”
The optical industry is a design and fashion industry that easily creates high added value, but its innovation capacity has declined due to the absence of creative designs and global brands, as well as aging facilities.
Thus, by integrating with the metaverse, a future core industry preferred by the younger generation, it is expected to create a turning point for innovation in the optical industry and leap forward as an advanced convergence optical industry in the metaverse era.
Korea’s optical industry began with the establishment of the country’s first eyeglass factory, ‘Gukje Celluloid Industry,’ located in Chimsan-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu, in 1945. Along with Belluno in Italy and Wenzhou in China, Daegu has grown into one of the world’s top three eyeglass production sites.
The domestic eyeglass market size is approaching about 2.4 trillion KRW, and the industry is making continuous efforts to surpass the 3 trillion KRW era.
According to Statistics Korea, as of 2020, there are a total of 1,145 optical companies nationwide, of which 70% (792 companies) are located in Daegu.
In particular, about 52% (600 companies) are located in Buk-gu, Daegu, making it the undisputed cluster of the optical industry responsible for eyeglass manufacturing nationwide. Since the establishment of the Daegu Eyeglass Industry Special Zone in September 2006, Daegu has established itself as the mecca of eyeglasses.
According to the Korea Optometric Association’s ‘National Adult Eyeglass Usage Survey,’ 54.5% of people aged 19 and older use eyeglasses or contact lenses. The rate of eyeglass use is gradually increasing due to the aging population and the spread of digital devices.
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