Back in January, South Korea voiced its plans to become the fifth-largest metaverse market by 2026. A month later, the government pledged 223.7 billion Korean won ($186.7 million) to create a broad metaverse ecosystem dubbed “Expanded Virtual World.”
Seoul has continued to follow up with its metaverse plans, the latest being the recruitment of experts in the extended reality, artificial intelligence, and NFT industries for an upcoming boot camp designed to train future metaverse professionals.
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) will launch what it describes as the country’s first “metaverse academy” in May. The academy will train 180 specialists for a start.
According to the ministry, 27 international organizations, including Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), The Sandbox, and Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), have all agreed to provide trainees with not just experience but also employment opportunities.
As reported by BTC PEERS, South Korea has set a target to nurture at least 40,000 metaverse professionals by 2026 in its grand plan of becoming a leading metaverse market. Back then, Science and ICT Minister Lim Hye-sook said:
Through this strategy, we will work closely with related ministries to steadily implement various support measures such as revitalizing the industrial ecosystem, fostering talent, nurturing companies, and innovating regulations so that Korea can become a leading global metaverse country.