Veteran insurer Kyobo Life has won the right to manage South Korea’s Blockchain Internet of Things (IoT) pilot.
As reported by the local news outlet Business Korea, the scheme will feature contributions from several state agencies with the aim of “laying a foundation for IoT promotion.”
In addition to Kyobo Life, the country’s Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the National Information Society Agency will also take part. Several businesses, including Blockchain startup theloop, are already signed up.
"This is the first case where the insurance industry is fully connected with fintech and introduces a new service," Kim Wook, senior managing director of digital innovation at Kyobo told the publication.
“If the service is commercialized in the future, we will be able to provide a better service by utilizing various fintech technologies."
The government will contribute financial incentives to participating members, with the initial focus to be the utilization of Blockchain for insurance-related payments.
“The core technology [...] is that of providing a service which enables an automatic payment of small amounts of insurance money, such as indemnity insurance payouts to policyholders,” Business Korea explains.
Cointelegraph reported last month that South Korea had become the second-largest Ethereum trading market in the world, highlighting increasing Blockchain interest in the country, not least from flagship tech company Samsung.
Across the border in the North, meanwhile, hackers were exposed as actively attempting to steal bitcoins from neighboring wallets.