Meta praises South Korea for its metaverse commitment

In Meta’s first press conference in Korea after rebranding from Facebook, Jung Ki-hyun – its regional director – says the metaverse will thrive in the country.

The nation had placed itself at the forefront of the metaverse movement, announcing that Seoul will become the first major city to enter the virtual realm, with 2023 the aim to achieve that goal.

Jung made his comments at Meta’s Korean VR art media showcase where he underlined the country’s receptivity to the future as well as the success rate of VR devices such as the Oculus Quest.

The VR market showed over 36% average annual growth rate in 2018, according to a report by Korea’s science ministry, which predicts the market to be worth more than US$2.5 billion by 2024.

Despite claims that Meta will ‘squash’ the metaverse, Jung said the company was dedicated to building a metaverse ecosystem and its support of NFTs will only benefit users and content creators in the digital universe.

Earlier this year, Meta announced it plans to invest more than $1bn in programs that will enable content creators to earn money on Facebook and Instagram, by the end of 2022.

Despite the opportunities for creators in the metaverse through the billion-dollar fund, Park Hye-jin, vice head professor of Venture Capital MBA at aSSIST, said comprehensive infrastructure was paramount to creating a true digital experience.

“People would not want to live in a metaverse where there’s limited interoperability between one metaverse to another,” he said.