Major Korean Firms To Form a Consotium ​to Launch Blockchain Mobile ID System

A consortium of all of the top South Korean firms have teamed up together to launch a blockchain-based mobile identification system in 2020, English-language local news outlet Korea Times reported.

According to this report by Korean Times, these firms are mostly are financial services firms KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank, KOSCOM, also mobile carrier services like SK Telecom, KT, LG UPlus and technology and the global giant Samsung Electronics. The aim of the consortium is expected to develop a self-sovereign identity system that eliminates any intermediate services, which help to empower individuals and organizations to control their identity information in online transactions.

The main feature of this service allows users to store personal information such as resident registration numbers, bank account numbers, and use them whenever they want. The financial services firms in this consortium are tasked with providing certification services, telecom companies have the task of managing stable mobile services, and Samsung will take care of secure management of the stored data.

According to reports, Samsung will manage data with Samsung Knox, their flagship enterprise mobile security solution pre-installed in most of its smartphones, tablets, and wearables. By the year 2020, the consortium has the intentions to take on board more partners, which would include large businesses, universities, hospitals, insurers, entertainment facilities, resorts, and country clubs.

Some reports earlier this month, Japanese tech research firm Fujitsu Laboratories is working on developing a blockchain-based solution for evaluating user credentials, identity and trustworthiness in online transactions.

Also, last month, news broke that Brazilian banks are planning to implement a new standardized blockchain identity solution which would be made using the Hyperledger Fabric platform.