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South Korea Aims to Boost Economy With Digital ID on Blockchain

  • Government to allow smartphones to replace existing ID cards
  • Korea sees economic value of digital IDs at around 3% of GDP
A pedestrian uses a smartphone at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea.

A pedestrian uses a smartphone at Seoul Station in Seoul, South Korea.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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South Korea plans to offer a digital identity secured by blockchain to citizens with a smartphone as it taps into the world’s most tech-savvy population to boost economic growth.

Smartphone-implanted IDs are among the latest emerging technology underpinning a digital economy that has expanded as more people work from home, make cashless payments and explore the metaverse.