City of Seoul starts metaverse platform for residents, tourists

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday launched a metaverse platform for users to travel to the capital and handle administrative tasks remotely.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon introduces Metaverse Seoul, a metaverse platform developed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, on Monday at City Hall. [YONHAP]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday launched a metaverse platform for users to travel to the capital and handle administrative tasks remotely.

Metaverse Seoul, available on Google Play and the Apple Store, allows users to play games, chat, hold meetings, get advice on starting and running a business, visit famous tourist attractions in Seoul, ask questions to the city’s 120 Dasan Call Center and download administrative documents such as resident registration certificates.

For foreigners, conversations are translated into English via Google Translate.

Chinese and Japanese services are being developed and will be available in the second or third phase of the platform, which will be over the next three years, said Kim Jin-man, director general of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Digital Policy Bureau.

Users can play games, as seen in the picture above, handle administrative tasks and virtually visit Seoul’s most popular tourist attractions on Metaverse Seoul. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

In a briefing on Monday at City Hall, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said he hoped the platform would facilitate communication between the city and its residents, while making it easier for people to complete administrative tasks.

Asked about a possible digital divide - that older residents might not be comfortable using the platform - Oh admitted that it was the biggest problem the city was trying to solve.

“The metaverse is a communication tool that young people can easily use without much trouble, but older people may be unfamiliar with it and refuse to use it,” Oh replied.

“They will need more time to get used to it, and that’s why we’re thinking about running something called an ‘easy mode’ in the second phase [of development], which will allow older people to use the services more easily.”

The city government said it spent some 2 billion won ($1.6 million) developing the first phase of Metaverse Seoul and expects to spend an additional 2.8 billion won this year on the second phase.

Because the platform is still being developed, Kim said during Monday’s briefing that the city government was soliciting feedback from users to improve the second and third phases.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will also collaborate with organizers of events held in the city so they can be held both in person and on Metaverse Seoul.

The final third phase of Metaverse Seoul will be developed by 2026.

Among the services provided on Metaverse Seoul is a counseling program for teens, through which young users can ask questions about school or their personal lives and receive responses from college and graduate school students authorized by the Seoul city government.

Virtual tours of the 10 most popular sites in Seoul, including the Blue House, N Seoul Tower, Gyeongbok Palace, Seoul Forest, Han River, Gwanghwamun Square and the Bukchon Hanok Village are provided in Korean and English.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]