Local Action and National Vision

When it comes to the blockchain industry, Jeju Province’s primary goal is identifying and promoting a variety of blockchain projects through cooperation between the public and private sectors.

Jeju is currently involved in negotiations to introduce blockchain in a number of fields including traffic management, VAT refunds to foreign tourists and the management of scrap batteries. Overall, we believes that supporting the private sector to create a variety of service models is preferable to investing taxpayer money to build a blockchain complex and provide services led by the public sector.

Jeju Province’s second initiative is establishing a clear set of standards for cryptocurrencies and their issuance. This does not mean indiscriminate permission for ICOs or relaxing regulations. Instead, Jeju’s goal is to establish clear regulations and standards for ICOs within the boundaries of the region, and permit ICOs for healthy companies.

To achieve this, Jeju seeks to take advantage of its unique legal position under the ‘Jeju Special Law.’

As a free international city, Jeju aims to use its institutional autonomy to create a special regulatory zone for blockchain and cryptocurrencies, which represent new global industries and require an institutional foundation.

A regional special blockchain zone has two main advantages. The first is flexibility. As many different ICO models are rolling out including STO, IEO and DAICO, and the ‘token economy’ is evolving rapidly, a flexible regional approach is more conducive to enacting suitable regulations while engaging in regulatory experimentation than legislation on a national level.