South Korea will use a blockchain for track and trace to aid tourism

A blockchain-powered contact tracing system will be launched  in an effort to combat COVID-19

A recent announcement stated it is mandatory for visitors on the Korean vacation island, called Jeju island, to install a blockchain integrated contact tracing app, named Zzeung, on arrival.

The app is designed to swiftly identify, notify and trace COVID-19 subjects and people who had contact with them.

The app is the result of a collaboration between ICONLOOP and the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.

Visited by 15 million visitors every year, the island of Jeju could be a potential hotspot for an outbreak if tourism is to operate there again.

The Director of Health and Welfare of Jeju, Tae-bong Lim, commented:

“We look forward to revitalizing the local economy, which has been stagnant due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic…Through this new infectious disease prevention system, Jeju Island will be able to be reborn as a safe and representative tourist destination in Korea.”

The application will separate and store data in two blockchains — to set up the app, people must either create a PIN or set up fingerprint authentication.

The application could also act as an pilot program for blockchain integration and its uses in our daily lives.

ICONLOOP CEO, Jong-hyup, appears to expect this trend to continue:

“As more users directly experience safe and convenient DID service at scale, we will realize many more new ways that blockchain technology can be applied to their daily lives.”

Blockchain vs COVID-19

With the effect of COVID-19 continuing to take its toll, many countries have found creative ways to combat the novel virus. Just like Korea, some have also turned to blockchain technology.

A recent example is Kazakhstan, at the time of writing, there have already been 1,698 deaths attributed to the virus, with more than 100,000 people allegedly already infected.

Kazakhstan contributes up to 8% of Bitcoin’s hashrate globally — so to capitalise on this, the county introduced a 15% tax on all crypto earnings. The taxed amount will be used to combat the pandemic, according to the government.