2022.05.03
AMCHAM Explores Opportunities to Arise from the Development of Metaverse
- AMCHAM - The Korea Herald Metaverse Forum 2022 -
May 2, 2022 - The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM; Chairman and CEO James Kim) and the Korea Herald co-hosted the Metaverse Forum 2022 on May 2, at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. Held in a hybrid online-offline format, representatives from the U.S. and Korean business communities and government officials gathered to discuss on the rise of the Metaverse and its implications for the future.
This event, held for the first time this year and hosted by Meta, crypto.com, Kim & Chang, aims to examine the need to create a metaverse ecosystem that facilitates business innovation and sustainable growth amid the acceleration of a virtual digital society in which metaverse becomes more prevalent across all industries. This event is also designed to explore a policy consensus between public-private sector and academia and seek cooperation between officials.
In his opening remarks, AMCHAM Chairman & CEO James Kim said, “Now in the post-COVID era, we are seeing new business models emerge. With the advancement of technology, the concept of the metaverse no longer remains an elusive dream.” He continued, “Newly emerging metaverse technologies are expected to be integrated into a wide range of industry sectors. It will fundamentally change the way we work and interact in our daily lives.”
Choi, Jin-young, CEO of The Korea Herald, also delivered opening remarks. “South Korea and the U.S. have been closely cooperating in the most valuable industrial fields such as semiconductor, electric vehicle and battery, and the two are leading the global industrial trend.” He added, “And through this Korea Herald and AMCHAM Forum, we hope to discover the future direction of the bilateral economic ties, in this fast-emerging technology -- metaverse.”
H.E. Lim, Hyesook, Minister of Ministry of Science and ICT also delivered congratulatory remarks virtually. “Global companies such as Meta, Microsoft, and Epic Games are investing heavily to secure a competitive advantage in the metaverse market and are actively pushing for metaverse-oriented business transformation. In January, the Korean government announced an active support plan for galvanizing the metaverse ecosystem through the ‘Metaverse New Industry Leading Strategy.’” She added, “In addition, we plan to secure a competitive advantage by including metaverse in the 'Policy to Foster 10 Innovative Technologies in the Digital Sector.”
At the forum, representatives from global companies such as Meta (IT/tech), SK Telecom (telecommunications), an crypto.com (NFT) delivered presentations on each company’s insights regarding metaverse trends, future strategies, and best cases. Mooni Kim, Foreign Attorney at Kim & Chang, discussed regulatory issues related to the metaverse industry
Steve Park, Director of Public Policy for Meta Korea and Japan, opened the session with a presentation about metaverse technology, the vision for metaverse in Korea from a large global platform such as Meta, and programs and initiatives to contribute to the augmented reality and virtual reality ecosystem.
Lee Mi Yeon, Metaverse CO Partnership Team Leader of SK Telecom, laid out how South Korea’s largest telecommunication firm based on number of mobile subscribers plans to go global with its metaverse service, ifland.
Patrick Yoon, Korea’s Managing Director at crypto.com, also delivered a speech on digital payment methods and global trends regarding NFTs.
The event also included a panel discussion involving all speakers. Dr. Eric Kim, Adjunct Professor at Hanyang University and Founder and CEO of Datacrunch Global, moderated the session discussion on metaverse implications for business.
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주한미국상공회의소, 메타버스의 성장과 변화가 가져올 변화와 기회 모색
코리아헤럴드와 ‘2022 메타버스 포럼’ 공동 개최