South Korea Plans to Launch Digital IDs by 2024

  • South Korea is becoming a world power in its use of technology.
  • Korean officials will release the digital IDs in 2024 and expect 45 million to adopt them within two years.
  • A study released in June 2021 by market research firm ReportLinker noted that the blockchain identification market would increase by an additional $3.58 billion by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 71%.

South Korea, known to have the most tech-savvy population, has announced that it would soon provide smartphones with a blockchain-powered digital identity feature, a move geared towards improving its economy with tech.

South Korean citizens have advanced in their use of modern technologies such as blockchain, and a huge part of the population works remotely. Residents already conduct cashless transactions and are familiar with the metaverse.

However, digital IDs will aid operations in South Korea, especially in online verification, since they’ll eliminate the need for text-based authentication or a picture of a certificate. Instead, the new ID system will allow tasks such as money transfers, casting a vote, or even becoming eligible for government benefits to be carried out with as simple as a fingerprint or pin.

The digital IDs will reportedly launch in 2024, and authorities expect 45 million residents to adopt the technology within two years. The Director General of the country’s digital government bureau, Suh Bo Ram, said the technology could benefit companies that haven’t fully switched to digital operations.

Hwang Seogwon, an economist at Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, explained that digital IDs would be usable in different industries, including finance, healthcare, tax, and transportation. He said,

Digitals IDs can yield huge economic benefits in finance, healthcare, taxes, transportation, and other areas and may catch on quickly among the Korean population. But there has to be more risk assessment technologically to make sure the danger doesn’t outweigh the benefits.

According to Suh, the project would also involve the government’s adoption of a decentralized identification system, which would prevent it from having access to data saved on phones, including the digital IDs being used, their usage patterns, and whereabouts.

This will not be the first blockchain-based digital ID system implemented in South Korea. According to reports, over a million South Koreans had adopted a blockchain-based driver’s license by August 2020, which works with Korea’s PASS mobile app. Other countries will most likely follow South Korea to launch a digital identity system in the coming months.

Digital IDs have the potential to enhance a country’s gross domestic product by up to 13% and reduce company expenses by trillions of dollars, according to the World Bank and McKinsey & Co. The McKinsey projection is predicated on the widespread use of digital IDs, improved efficiency in administrative tasks, decreased payroll fraud, increased consumer credit, improved trade, and the emergence of new markets.

Lawrence Woriji
Lawrence Woriji Verified Author

I have covered some exciting stories in my career as a journalist and find blockchain-related stories very intriguing. I believe Web3 will change the world and want everyone to be a part of it.

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