South Korea Approves Blockchain Certificate Use In All Sectors

The South Korean government recently came with a major decision which affects blockchain technology. As we can see from Hanguk Ilbo and UPI News, South Korea approves blockchain certificate use in public and private sectors.

The decision from Seoul shows that it will make amendments to the nation’s existing Electronic Signatures Law which will allow citizens and companies to make use of blockchain-powered certificates. In this manner, businesses will use these certificates in their dealings.

Existing laws allow for some public institutions to make limited use of blockchain powered certificates. However, the new rules will expand their use in the public sector and open them to the private sector, too. Below is a translation of the official statement from UPI News in regards to this cryptonews story:

“The superior legal effect of accredited electronic signatures will also be abolished from December 10th. In the existing digital signature law, the legal effect of the digital signature was superior to that of the existing law, only the official certificate, but the distinction between public and private certificates was abolished, and all digital signatures are given equal legal effect. As a result, a secure authentication service applied with various new technologies such as blockchain and biometrics, and a convenient authentication service without the need to install ActiveX are activated, and users (organizations) can use various services other than a public certificate.”

As South Korea approves blockchain certificate use in all sectors, the government is now taking part in a large-scale public-private sector decentralized ID (DID) platform drive. What’s also interesting is that most of the major commercial banks, telecoms providers and smartphone makers (Samsung and LG) are also taking part in this initiative. The new amendment which is prepared will help provide the legal framework for the DID system.

Additionally, we can notice that there are some existing blockchain certificate portals which make use of the ActiveX controls. The blockchain news show that very often, users download a number of additional software extensions.

With the new way South Korea approves blockchain certificate use, we can see the amendments changing this process. In fact, the ActiveX download requirements will do away and speed up the processes.

We can also see that the same rules also apply to the biometric certificates, and make up part of the government’s wider policy to boost contact-free and digitized documentation in order to mitigate the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.