Expo to herald Korea as Global Blockchain Frontier

Government officials and NGOs, as well as global players in the blockchain industry, will come together to discuss the development of Korea as the new blockchain frontier.

“2018 KOREA BLOCKCHAIN EXPO”(koreablockchainexpo.com) will be held from the 23rd to the 24th of October at the Grand Hilton Seoul Convention Center. The event is hosted by Hankyung.com, an digital platform of The Korea Economic Daily, along with Deloitte, Hashed, GBIC, and Asobimo.

The event will facilitate conversations on the blockchain-related visions of central and regional governments, with related corporations, startups, projects, funds, and capitals offering their input. It is an opportunity to examine and contextualize Korean blockchain policies, regulations, legislation, and its industry ecosystem in general, putting emphasis on heralding the dawn of a “Blockchain Korea”.

The first day of the event will focus on “Blockchain Policies in the Korea and the Future of the Industry”, while the second deals with “Contact Points between Blockchain and the Real Economy”, each with four sessions, with a total of eight. The first day of the expo will have conversations on topics such as policy-related efforts in the public sector and regulation issues, the second day balancing it out with discussions of real-life blockchain project cases.

'2018 KOREA BLOCKCHAIN EXPO' speakers. Hyehoon Lee, Wonki Min, Paul Sin, Wooyong Shin, Bernd Lapp, Taehee Woo, David Lee, Francois Piccione(clockwise from the top left).

Korea Blockchain Expo, the first of its kind, will feature the Korean vice minister of Science and ICT Wonki Min, also a chair for the committee of the digital economy policy(CDEP) at OECD, as a panelist to discuss the directions in which governmental blockchain policies are headed. Chairperson nominee of the Congressional Committee of the 4th industrial Revolution Hyehoon Lee will also give a talk on the legislative efforts to bring the fourth industrial revolution into reality, with blockchain technology at the forefront. Taehee Woo, chairperson of the Industry Development committee at Korea Blockchain Association(former vice minister of Trade, Industry and Energy), will speak on future projections for the development of the Korean blockchain industry.

Hashed CEO Simon Seojoon Kim is also featured, speaking on the “Opportunities and Obstacles for Korea as a Global Blockchain Hub”. Kim warns that any delay in legislation for the development of the blockchain industry will be detrimental in the future, while also highlighting the various strengths Korea possesses as a blockchain frontier, including a “blockchain-friendly” government and regional NGOs, corporations and startups, and a generation that is largely familiar and cognizant of cryptocurrency.

Both the sessions will feature presentations from the government, with central administration and legislation representatives in Session 1, “The Direction of Innovation for Korea’s Blockchain Industry” and Session 2, “Blockchain in the Public Sector”, with participants from regional governments such as Seoul, Busan, and Jeju, reporting on the dynamic domestic cryptocurrency scene with Smart Cities and blockchain special districts. Vice mayor of Busan Jaesoo Yoo and director-general of future strategy bureau of Jeju Heeseop Roh will be featured as panelists, as well as Seoul mayor Wonsoon Park or vice mayor Joonbyung Yoon.

The third session, “Fostering Global Blockchain Cities”, will discuss cases of leading global blockchain cities, featuring speakers such as Deloitte’s Asia Pacific blockchain lab leader Paul Sin, representative Francois Piccione of the blockchain task force from leading blockchain hub country Malta, with policy makers from Australia, Japan, and Russia in attendance.

Session 4, “Public-Private Cooperation for the Development of Blockchain Technology”, will feature speakers such as Yongwan Joo, director of Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), as well as ICONLoop CEO Jonghyup Kim, Medibloc CEO Allen Wookyun Kho, and Allan Jonghwan Kim advisory board member of Blocko.

Legendary Silicon Valley investor David Lee of Refactor Capital, Asobimo CEO Katsunori Kondo, and former Ethereum advisor Bernd Lapp. GBIC’s partner Sinhae Lee will focus on Trends in Key Blockchain Markets, with a focus on cases in Korea, the US, and China.

There is also a separate session for large domestic corporations such as SK Telecom, LG CNS, and Samsung SDS, which has Wooyong Shin as vice president(blockchain business team leader). The session is intended to showcase efforts of leading global corporations in Korea to open new blockchain businesses, and an organic transition into business matching.

'2018 KOREA BLOCKCHAIN EXPO' host and co-organizer. Kwangcheol Go, Junghee Lee, Seojoon Kim, Sinhae Lee, Katsunori Kondo(from left to right).

There will be booths of participating corporations on display and meetups, as well as a VIP networking party after the second day’s events have ended.

Sponsors and partners of the event include Ontology, Cosmochain, Ledger Capital, Carry, Passport, Eduhash, Redpulse, TTC Protocol, and Pundi X, with media partners Investing.com, CoinDesk Korea, The Token Post, IT Donga, Asia Economy Daily, and The Blockchain Business Review. More partners of Expo will be announced on the official homepage(www.koreablockchainexpo.com) in the days leading up to the event, and those wishing to sign up for the Expo may also do so.

James Junghweon Jeon, Asia Pacific director of the Blockchain Economic Forum, remarked that “the event will be a chance to showcase the various advantages that Korea has to grow into a blockchain hub politically, technically, and industrially, including various blockchain-friendly public and private players, and active conversation with blockchain-leading nations.”

☞ "2018 KOREA BLOCKCHAIN EXPO" official homepage

Bongkoo Kim, staff reporter, kbk9@hankyung.com

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Expo to herald Korea as "Global Blockchain Frontier"