South Korean ministry recommends enactment of special metaverse laws

MSIT has identified that imposing old regulations has a chilling effect on the growth of new ecosystems.

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has revealed plans to move away from imposing traditional video game laws on the Metaverse. Instead, the ministry decided to issue new guidelines to encourage the growth of the fledgling ecosystem.

South Korea's interest in the Web3 and Metaverse ecosystems is evidenced by the $200 million investment it has made in creating an internal Metaverse. Along with this effort, MSIT has identified that imposing older regulations has a chilling effect on the growth of new ecosystems.

At the first National Data Policy Committee meeting, MSIT noted that “we will not make the mistake of regulating a new service with existing law.” However, discussions around the designation of the Metaverse as a video game are still valid.

The ministry has decided that new industries – including the Metaverse, self-driving and OTT streaming platforms – require the development of new regulations. With respect to the Metaverse, the MSIT expressed concern about hampering industrial growth due to a lack of legal and institutional basis. Revealing the plan, a rough translation of the press release read:

"Establish guidelines for the classification of game products and metaverses for rational and consistent regulation and support for the enactment of related laws (enactment of special laws on metaverses, etc.)"

Previously, on September 1, members of the National Assembly supported a formal proposal to enact the Metaverse Industry Promotion Act to support the web3 industry.

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