Korea has been falling behind from the emerging global trend toward blockchain revolution, according to Busan Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-soo.

In a blockchain seminar at the National Assembly, the vice mayor urged the government to remove obstacles to the blockchain industry development.

He warned that the Korean blockchain industry would lose global competitiveness unless the government takes bold deregulatory steps.

The port city joined hands with the Block Media to host the one-day seminar Wednesday.

He criticized the government for banning blockchain developers from raising funds through the initial coin offerings.

He urged the government to allow blockchain startups to raise capital through the issuance of coins or cryptocurrencies.

Kim Hyong-jin, executive of the Daily Blockchain, predicted that the blockchain market would be on a par with the gold market by 2025. The government’s closed-door policy would eliminate the entrepreneurship of blockchain startups. He lamented that the government bans blockchain startups from opening bank accounts.

However, he welcomed the launch of the nation’s first regulation-free blockchain business zone. He hoped that many local blockchain developers would return to Busan, ending their business overseas.

Kang Sung, head of Kakao’s legal affairs unit, predicted that South Korean blockchain companies would not survive because of the current stifling regulations.

He predicted that in due course, the blockchain industry would become mainstream in the economy. He regretted the fact that the government is too slow in realizing the importance of the emerging industry.

However, Kim Jung-won of the Ministry of Science and ICT said the government would foster the domestic blockchain industry so that it can reach 90 percent of the technology level of the American companies by 2022.
He also said the government would foster up to 10,000 blockchain experts until 2022.

He also pledged to support Busan to foster the blockchain industry.