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| Korea Internet and Security Agency President Kim Sung-hwan speaks with reporters at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Korea Internet and Security Agency |
By Jun Ji-hye
The state-run Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) has vowed to boost industry related to blockchain technology as part of efforts to find growth engines in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Agency President Kim Sung-hwan said the KISA would push a strategy, dubbed "I-Korea 4.0," in which it would find ways to promote blockchain-related enterprises and establish a clear vision and road map for action.
Kim made the remarks during a meeting with reporters in Seoul on Friday.
"We will push for a project to verify the feasibility of utilizing blockchain technology so we can support enterprises at an early stage," he said.
Core areas in which blockchain technology can be utilized were energy, logistics and copyright, he said.
Promising to search for new business models, Kim said the agency would also review ways to connect blockchain technology to the fintech industry.
Blockchain refers to a peer-to-peer network where many people participate to provide computing power for the security of the decentralized system. It has a built-in payment system _ well-known examples are those involving bitcoin and Ethereum.
Unlike conventional systems, blockchain does not need third-party intermediaries. It therefore has no single failure point, which is why blockchain is safer than middle-men-backed old institutions like banks, brokerages and governments.
It is practically impossible to hack the system because of its unique structure and great computing power offered by distributed users. Even the combined computing power of the world's 500 most powerful supercomputers cannot match the bitcoin blockchain.
KISA said the blockchain market was expected to grow rapidly worldwide, but in Korea, attention has been mostly focused on outside issues such as cryptocurrency exchanges, rather than the technology itself.
The agency said there was an urgent need to create a blockchain market based on technology.
Kim also vowed to achieve a smooth transformation from paper to electronic documents, setting a goal to expand the usage rate of electronic documents by up to 70 percent by 2021.
The agency will work with the National Assembly to revise relevant laws and carry out demonstration projects to help the people get used to electronic documents more easily.
Te revised laws would stipulate that electronic documents had the same authority as paper ones.
Kim also said the agency would support the big data industry, promising to consider ways to guarantee the protection and use of personal information.
"We will set up a big data center by December with an investment of 2.8 billion won," he said.
He then promised to enhance the ability to cope with cyber terrorism, which had advanced considerably.
"We will build an analysis system based on machine learning to detect and respond to attack more promptly," he said.
Machine learning, the most widely used form of artificial intelligence, refers to computer algorithms that can learn on their own by accumulating data.
Kim added that KISA was considering hosting a "Hack the KISA" contest in a bid to find the security vulnerability of the agency itself.
