60% of S Korean Smartphone Users to Gain Blockchain Platform Access

Millions of South Korean telecom customers are to be granted access to a blockchain platform that will let them share and verify college graduation certificates, academic records and proof of employment certificates directly from their phones.

Two of the country’s three major telecoms providers – SK Telecom and LG’s LG U+ – say they will roll out the service for their users “in the second half of 2019,” reports News1.

Users will need to download an app in order to gain access to the new service. Some 60% of South Korea’s smartphone owners use SK or LG U+, with the remainder using KT. The latter is also working on a range of its own blockchain services.

The development is the result of a government-backed project led by SK Telecom, and comprises the development of a new app named SSW (short for Self Sovereign Wallet). The project has the backing of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Information, which is hoping to use such developments as part of its e-government and blockchain technology drives.

Other participants in the project include major banks KEB Hana and Woori, as well as a number of domestic blockchain startups.

Meanwhile, rival bank Shinhan is also stepping up its blockchain game. One of the company’s affiliates – a P2P stock lending brokerage named Directional – has become one of the latest companies to announce it will operate on Klaytn, a blockchain platform operated by the Kakao Group’s Ground X subsidiary.

Fn News reports that other companies moving to Klaytn include a Russian social media platform and a Chinese talent-sharing platform – as well as a subsidiary of South Korean gaming giant Neowiz.