South Korea’s Second Most Populous City Signs MoU With Blockchain Firm to Promote Fintech

The South Korean city of Busan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with blockchain company Hyundai Pay, according to a press release published on Feb. 12.

According to the announcement, South Korea’s second most populous city after Seoul and Hyundai Pay, a company that developed a blockchain platform and a cryptocurrency wallet, will cooperate in order to promote the growth of startups and jobs in Busan.

The MoU specifies plans to relocate the Hyundai Pay headquarters to Busan and to create needed fintech infrastructure.

The MoU also aims to revitalize the blockchain industry through “contribution to the development of local ICT [Information and communications technology] industry through mutual growth with related start-up businesses,” states the press release. An official of Busan City underlined:

“We are planning to expedite blockchain-based platforms and services and develop Busan into a Mecca for blockchain and Fintech through intimate integration with financial institutions in the future.”

Back last summer, South Korea revealed plans to create a blockchain center with the focus “on the [crypto] industry in Korea like the Crypto Valley in Switzerland" specifically in the city of Busan, as Cointelegraph reported on June 15.

Later in December, Busan City’s administration announced that the government would  spend about $3.5 million to launch a virtual power plant backed with blockchain technology in the region, Cointelegraph wrote on Dec. 10.