SK Telecom (Korea’s largest telecommunications company), which marks the first anniversary of its launch, is planning to enter the global market within this year by installing new technologies such as sponsorship functions.
SK Telecom announced on the 13th that it has completed development of English version of Efriend. Based on this, SK Telecom is planning to release E-Land sequentially from the second half of this year in partnership with major global telecommunication companies such as Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.SK Telecom has already had a huge number of subscribers through its platforms (Cyworld), which has gained sensational popularity in Korea and was introduced before YouTube and Instagram, which are now in the spotlight for communication and photo-video. However, it was active only in Korea, and has a weak history of global promotion.SK Telecom is currently discussing ways to discover metaverse contents and conduct joint marketing with representative telecommunication companies in each region.

Efriend, which was released on July 14 last year, recorded a cumulative download of about 2.9 million in December, six months later. In June of this year, it surpassed 8.7 million downloads. Based on the strength of the live video relay function and support for simultaneous access of up to 131 people in Korea, more than 2,000 partner love calls were received from various companies and organizations.
Even after the lifting of the distance, the average monthly stay in the land for efriend users increased by about 10% from 55 minutes as of March to 61 minutes as of last month after social distancing was lifted.SK Telecom cited partnership with original content and external sources as major growth factors for Efland. According to SK Telecom, the volume metric concert “Metabus Music Festival,” which was introduced by Efriend last month, attracted more than 20,000 visitors during the event.SK Telecom is expanding its partnership with the outside world by hosting the metaverse audition “Tintin Audition” in cooperation with Dong-A University of Broadcasting and Arts this month.New functions such as point payment and sponsorship will be added during the third quarter of this year. If users participate in continuous activities such as attendance and mission performance, points that can be used like cash will be paid in the future.
It plans to introduce internal economic systems sequentially, such as adding a function to send sponsorships to hosts hosting metaverse meetings. It will also introduce an open 3D content platform that can make profits by selling costumes and items designed and produced by users themselves.
Through this, when the participation compensation system in the metaverse is activated, various economic activities in the metaverse are expected to open in earnest.

In addition, SK Telecom’s phone platform “T Phone” has changed its service name and function significantly to target the global market starting with North America in the first half of this year.

According to industries on the 10th, it is confirmed that SK Telecom plans to make a new name for T-phone’s global brand and enter global markets such as North American markets in the first half of this year.As of January, T Phone, which has 11 million subscribers in Korea, was launched in February 2014 as an app-type phone call platform that informs smartphone users of risk numbers such as spam and smishing and provides various functions such as group calls.SK Telecom has set a basic policy to independently expand T-phone into North America and Southeast Asia, and is working on establishing databases (DBs) for each country. It plans to establish an “open ecosystem” that can be connected to any domestic and foreign businesses, even if it proceeds independently to enter the market itself.It also plans to increase the possibility of success by adding new functions that accommodate global needs (demand) rather than simply expanding the number of users through local marketing.In particular, SK Telecom is considering changing the service name of T-phone in order to successfully enter the global market. An official from SK Telecom explained, “We are considering the name of a new service and are aiming for a global integrated brand,” adding, “We are also considering applying a separate brand in certain countries considering that it may not be able to consider the situation of each country.”

In fact, SK Telecom has started developing T-phone’s global brand with external companies since December last year, according to a business watch report. It is a task to newly configure service logos and app designs suitable for global brands.

SK Telecom expects that if the T-phone platform succeeds in entering the global market this year, it can be used as a bridgehead for various global services in the future. It is judged that the profit model can also be built in various ways according to the local situation.

SK Telecom’s new president Chung Ho-bak also stressed in his New Year’s address this year, “Let’s become Korea’s leading ICT company and create a global top-class platform through cooperation and investment with various operators,” raising the possibility of a stronger drive than ever.

However, competition with global market operators as well as providing services suitable for foreign users’ smartphone usage environments is expected to be the key to success.

An official from the company said, “There are competitive services of T-phone, such as phone apps installed in smartphones and services for various phone-related functions, but platforms that provide integrated services like T-phone are not identified.”

In addition, it is said that SK Telecom’s biggest concern is to create services suitable for the communication environment and customer needs of foreign markets such as North America. An official from SK Telecom said, “The plan may change depending on the DB construction work for each region, but we plan to advance in the order of North America and Southeast Asia,” adding, “We plan to develop the platform while testing existing and new functions.”

SOPHIA KIM

ASIA JOURNAL

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young, hereinafter referred to as “MSS”) announced that a Korean SME-College Alliance, with the cooperation of MSS, has joined the Hannover Messe 2022 in Germany for four days from May 30 to June 2 as a manufacturing-specialized virtual factory (hereinafter referred to as “the Metaverse Factory”).

The Hannover Messe is the world’s largest industrial fair and was first hosted in 1947. Around 6,500 businesses from 75 nations participated in this year’s event, which is hosted under the theme of “the Industrial Transformation.”

The Hannover Messe 2022, which was hosted offline in three years due to the pandemic, was held with great success, with a lot of people joining to get ideas about the latest digital technologies and trends.

The alliance was composed of Korean SMEs, such as digiforet, ABH, KEMP, and Hanyang University, centered on the KAIST Manufacturing AI Big Data Center.

The SMEs of the Alliance were the ones who participated in the MSS’s AI Consulting and Demonstration Project to develop an AI solution as providers and adopters of technologies. In this project, they have provided support for demonstration funds, datasets, and computing resources, which are the foundation for applying metaverse technology.

Based on this, the corporates and universities of the alliance could successfully build an intelligent metaverse system.

In the virtual environment of “the Manufacturing AI Metaverse Factory,” you can operate various functions connected to a real factory.

A large group of people joined “the Metaverse Factory” at the exhibition hall of the Hannover Messe, and they were able to tour a virtual plating factory by wearing augmented reality equipment.

They could personally run the plating process in the metaverse environment, which is connected with the real factory in South Korea, and try to optimize the operation of the plating bath based on the analysis of the manufacturing AI.

The AR, VR, and XR equipment and the metaverse solution could provide access to “the Metaverse Factory,” crossing any physical limitation.

The demonstration confirms the possibility of optimizing the operability of a factory and improving the quality of products by applying the virtual (metaverse) simulation tool in the manufacturing sector.

Metaverse is a combination of “Universe,” which means the real world, and “Meta,” which means “processing, abstract,” and means a three-dimensional virtual world. As Untact culture is popular due to COVID-19, the Metaverse, which can gather a large number of unspecified people in a virtual space at once, and can perform activities without time and space restrictions, is attracting more attention. The most famous Metaverse platforms include Naver Z’s avatar service, ZEPETO, and SK Telecom’s Efriend. ZEPETO creates 3D avatars to communicate with other users and provides services that allow them to experience various virtual reality experiences. It contains AR contents, games, and SNS functions, so it is very popular among young people. In a situation where offline events are not possible due to the COVID-19 crisis, Metaverse sometimes takes the place of concert halls. In addition, the Metaverse is being used in various fields, such as workshops, events, and university welcome parties for freshmen. When you act as a new character or character that is not your usual self, you are called a “Alter ego”. Alter ego was originally used as a game term, but is now one of the most frequently used terms in Metaverse. The Millennials and Gen Z who are trying to find pleasure by creating a second ego in the virtual world away from the harsh reality is gaining great popularity. It has become the so-called ‘golden age of Alter ego’. As such, the metaverse has had many changes and influences not only on our culture but also on our daily life. Let’s take a closer look at these changes and their impacts.

As it became impossible to talk face-to-face or host events due to the COVID-19, people began to find a way to replace this situation. One such method to solve this problems is the ‘Metabus’. Metabus has the advantage of being able to gather an unspecified number of people at once in a virtual space such as the Internet, and it can be engage in activities without restrictions on time and space.

The first platform that brought the Metabus craze to Korea is ‘Zepeto’, developed by Naver Jet. Launched in 2018, the platform has gained great popularity, especially among the MZ generation in their teens and 20s. The fact that anyone can design another character within the platform and communicate with others through the character can be seen as a good target for the MZ generation, which values individuality. In particular, in combination with the recent concept of ‘boo-character’, Geppetto users find another possibility that is different from reality through their characters. This craze of ‘Zepeto’ is clearly different from other platforms in various ways, with JYP, YG, and SM actually carrying out comeback promotions for each group within the platform.

There is a platform that has become a topic of conversation as the scope of metabuses has expanded since COVID-19. It’s “Gather.town.” Launched in May 2020, Gethertown is still sensational as it allows people to hold events online that inevitably gather a lot of people in the Corona era. This advantage of Gethertown has allowed companies and government local governments as well as the private sector to host events using Gethertown. In fact, Gumi Health Center provides online counseling services using Gethertown to citizens, and large companies such as GS Retail also hold job briefings and fairs through this platform. Events using the Metabus platform continue until now when distancing has been lifted, and as the use of such metabus space increases, various companies are entering the Metabus increases. In fact, as the Metabus business expands, the stock price will rise 88 percent from the current level, and the newly inaugurated Yoon government promised to visit IT events and fully support ICT innovation projects including Metabus.

Another area where Metabus has begun to be directly introduced into real life these days is “education.” As futurist Roger James Hamilton, who predicted that 2024 would spend more time in the 3D virtual world than in the 2D Internet world, interest in the use of metabuses in education is increasing today. As you get used to non-face-to-face life due to COVID-19, you can look at various educational sites using Metabus. Yeungnam University held the entrance ceremony for freshmen in 2022 in a metabus space. At Janggi Elementary School in Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, Metabus is now applied to the concept of real space beyond simple space reproduction, so expectations for a metabus that creates an effective and better educational environment are increasing. Infinite space and educational materials based on Metabus can provide an educational environment beyond time and space, which is expected to be of great help to improve students’ creativity. It is expected that many institutional levels of support will be introduced in the field of compulsory elementary, middle and high school education so that the educational environment in Metabus can be actively created.

However, Metaverse, which has grown suddenly, has threats that require adequate laws and regulations. Paradoxically, the Metaverse is a free space, but without laws and regulations, it becomes a space where freedom cannot be enjoyed due to all kinds of threats. The philosopher Hobbes described the state of a society without laws and regulations as “The war of all against all.” Metaverse will also be in the state of “The war of all against all” where cybercrime and many other threats are prevalent unless suitable laws and regulations are in place. Therefore, in order to minimize expected threats and effectively utilize the Metaverse, it is necessary to correctly predict and prepare for its future. Metaverse has not yet become common enough, so appropriate laws have not been prepared, but they can gradually melt into everyday life, so we need to prepare for this. It is most urgent to prevent various cybercrimes that may occur in Metaverse. Crimes in Metaverse, such as “Avatar Sex Offences,” are already occurring, and it is difficult to punish them properly. When order is established in the Metaverse society, the advantages of it will be further highlighted and it will be utilized in more diverse fields.

K-UNIV

Asia Journal 

The term “subscription” means purchasing and reading books, newspapers, magazines, etc. These subscription services have recently expanded to include various types of groceries and household goods, as well as clothing and content. Here, the subscription service refers to a business model that regularly provides products or services to convert consumers into subscribers. One of the factors behind the recent rapid growth of the subscription economy is the “COVID-19 epidemic.” As the demand for non-face-to-face consumption increased due to concerns over the spread of the virus, the demand for subscription services also increased. Aside from these situational factors, the subscription economy is growing rapidly, centering on the MZ generation. Then, why is the MZ generation so enthusiastic about subscription services?

First, this is because one can reveal one’s values and beliefs through subscription behavior. One can reveal one’s values and beliefs through subscription behavior. If existing consumers set the standard of consumption at the quality or price of the product, MZ generation consumers set the standard in accordance with values and beliefs. Second, subscription services are consistent with the consumption tendency of the MZ generation, which values experience rather than ownership. The MZ generation is a generation that considers diverse and exotic experiences as competitiveness. In the past showing off the ownership of expensive products such as cars and luxury bags through SNS was common, but the MZ generation has recently used SNS as a means to display their hobbies and careers which is their experiences. Then, what are the subscription services used by the MZ generation?

Dividing representative subscription services into material consumption and experience consumption, material consumption subscription services include luxury rental services, early morning delivery services, vehicle subscription services, and personalized life-related services. Luxury rental service is a service that allows consumers who are burdened with high prices to use luxury bags at the price of a cup of coffee a day. In addition, early morning delivery services are mainly fresh food, and similar to luxury rental services, there are many people who subscribe to rental services for domestic travel and camping and car camping rather than car purchases. Personalized life-related services are services that provide products that suit consumers’ tastes and bodies, such as salads, nutritional supplements, cosmetics, and underwear.

Next, the experience consumption subscription service is characterized by the fact that it can provide and consume products without restriction in the online service market compared to limited real materials, attracting many consumers. There are OTT online video streaming services, news and magazines in various fields, as well as current events, essay subscription services, e-book subscription services, and educational services and platform services. Recently, SK Broadband launched an all-in-one Playbox PLAYZ product targeting MZ generation of consumers who mainly use OTT. In addition, the education industry also launched subscription services, unlike the existing education operating system, it launched a subscription service that provides one-week delivery, one-on-one mentoring service, and a total of 12 weeks of completed subscriptions for 10,000 won per month. Messenger programs and subscription services are also eye-catching. There is a subscription service called Emoticon Plus by Kakao Talk, the No. 1 messenger user in Korea, which offers unlimited use of existing emoticons and emoticon plus limited emoticons for 4,900 won per month.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of such subscription services? Considering the advantages, it is too convenient for consumers. Modern people’s days are too busy and it is cumbersome to find and do the services they need every time. I can spend my life well and increase the efficiency of my work through subscription service. Also, it is an economic benefit. “Subscribe” means that consumers and businesses promise to continue a long-term relationship. Therefore, consumers can use the goods and services they want at a relatively low price. Companies can also secure customers who continue to use their services, ensuring stable profits.

However, there is a limitation in that subscription services make users who receive them passive. Users will accept products or information as selected and planned by the company providing the service. In the case of OTT services, AI provides various images based on user information. It seems like an advantage on the surface, but paradoxically, it makes users who watch recommended content in this way passive viewers. In addition, users may unintentionally accept indiscriminate and distorted information as it is. In particular, in the case of subscription services such as ‘newsletter’ based on information provision, the inspection of the information is very important. On the other hand, rental services are not privately owned by consumers, so there is a risk of compensation, and food subscription services have been controversial overpackaging and hygiene.
Currently, many platform companies are launching various subscription services targeting the MZ generation. Of course, it is also good for companies to launch subscription services using new items, but in order to prevent the leaving existing subscribers using the services, subscription services must be constantly developed to suit the tastes of subscribers. In addition, as individual values and tastes that are different from others are important, subscription services and custom DIY subscription services that can more delicately match individual tastes should be released. It may also be a unlikely story, but I hope that various companies will collaborate to launch a new subscription service that integrates subscription services from the same stock. For example, I think the launch of an integrated subscription service that combines ‘Netflix’ and ‘Watcha’, which are leading in the domestic market share of otte service, will reduce the burden on consumers who have to pay for multiple services every month.
We live in a world of subscriptions. Beyond milk, newspapers, and magazine subscriptions, the range of subscriptions has expanded beyond physical products to virtual worlds, from regular subscriptions to automobiles, mobile phones and Metaveres. Our daily lives and subscriptions are closely related, and we cannot go back to before experiencing subscription services. However, I am worried that I could pass all the work of thinking about what would be a better product for me and which movie could resonate greatly with me to the subscription service. Why don’t you take the time to find out what I really want sometimes?

K-UNIV

Asia Journal

As the COVID-19 virus is spreading, many industries are suffering greatly. It has already been over two years since the pandemic began. The K-POP industry is no exception. Until 2020, world tour concerts accounted for a large percentage of entertainment agencies’ sales. Meeting between stars and fans was considered the essence of this ‘idol’ industry. As governments around the world, including Korea, implemented strong social distancing restrictions, it has become difficult to hold these kinds of events. But Korean entertainment agencies got over these difficulties successfully. The key to their success is digital transformation.

Now most K-POP stars hold online fan meeting when they release a new album. The online fan meeting is an entirely new form of K-POP event. Using Google Meet or Kakao Video Call, the star and fan have a video call for about two minutes. After the event, the album which the star has signed and written the fan’s name and P.S. is delivered to each fan’s home.

Likewise, concerts are being held online, too. Instead of the chance to meet celebrities in person, K-POP fans have the chance to watch their favorite star’s performances with online devices at home. The price for the tickets vary, but some are even free! Dream Maker Entertainment provides a special online concert platform to K-POP agencies which is called Beyond Live. Once the ticket is purchased, fans can enjoy the concert at a certain time and watch the replay anytime. On-site concerts have time and space constraints, but online concerts don’t. That is to say, more people can get an opportunity to enjoy the show and it leads to the growth of the star’s popularity.

DearU Bubble is an app that provides star-fan messaging. SM Entertainment, the most popular Korean entertainment agency, established their subsidiary in 2017 and started the Bubble service in 2020. Not only stars of SM Entertainment but also other famous K-POP stars have joined the service, so people can enjoy communicating with various stars. The stars send text messages, exclusive photos, and videos through Bubble. If got messages, the subscribers can reply to the star. Although it’s not one-to-one communication actually, the app’s UI makes them feel like they’re chatting in private. The price of the service that you can communicate with one celebrity is \4,500 a month. Even though the price is not that cheap, 90% of subscribers keep using Bubble. Also, the number of people using Bubble is about 1.2 million without any special marketing or promotion. It means this service is quite attractive to K-POP fans.

HYBE, an entertainment agency to which BTS belongs, also made a similar service called Weverse. It offers star-fan communication service, exclusive photos/videos, and special MD products. In Korea, these kinds of app services are called fan-platform services. Now it is an undeniable truth that you should use these fan-platform services if you are a great fan of K-POP.

People all around the world are into Metaverse now, and the K-POP agencies are trying to combine the star’s IP (intellectual property) and Metaverse. As many people already know, Metaverse is a combination word of ‘meta’, which means imaginary and abstract, and ‘verse’, which means ‘universe’. ‘BLACKPINK’, YG Entertainment’s famous girl group, have their own Metaverse world with ZEPETO, the Metaverse platform. They hold a variety of fan events in their ZEPETO world. Meanwhile, ‘aespa’, SM Entertainment’s girl group, have their unique background narration related to Metaverse. It is as follows. They have four human members and four AI members called ‘ae-aespa’. The ae-aespa members originally live in a virtual world called FLAT, but aespa members and they meet together to fight against the villain. Therefore, aespa’s songs have unique lyrics implying this epic story.

NFT, non-fungible token, is used to prove the content’s worth and ownership. Korean big entertainment agencies such as SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Plus, and HYBE are continuing to work under the table to combine their celebrities’ IP and NFT. If K-POP agencies use NFT to maximize their celebrities’ IP, they might have tons of ways to create a profit. In Indonesia, a photo card of BTS Jungkook was traded at over $2500. This NFT fever is creating a synergy effect with the Metaverse platform, providing K-POP fans groundbreaking experiences to have chances to own their star’s IP.

K-POP agencies and celebrities are quickly adapting to the COVID Era by creating new business models; online fan meeting, online concert, fan-platform app service, and the convergence of Metaverse and NFT. As of today in Korea, the 4th Industrial Revolution is becoming a real sensation and the K-POP industry is also making big changes by transforming their business into a digital-related thing. People not into K-POP are also focusing on this new trend as it broadens the K-POP industry’s limits and merges into other industries. This trend seems to be accelerated as technology advances.

Han Saem Lee

K-UNIV Reporter

Covid 19 outbreak has brought changes in our daily lives. Many things that were natural in the past became unusual. It has been almost hard to travel between countries and to socialize in dense spaces over the past year. Even for students, there is little chance to associate with others. As they have classes online without going to school, it is hard to meet and make new friends. Against this backdrop, the word ‘metaverse’ has drawn attention since early 2021. It is a three-dimensional virtual world without a boundary between reality and virtuality. In the metaverse, all users share their experiences using it in real-time. Even consumption activities such as purchasing their avatars costumes or paying for concerts are carried out just like in the real world. It is not just one type of game.

The metaverse craze is led by Generation MZ, the combination of Millennial Generation and Z Generation. They are familiar with new technology and believe they have a deep understanding of using it. Their desire for sharing their owns with friends led to the metaverse. They recognized it as another kind of space for socialization, not as just the virtual world. They think that the relationships between people in the virtual world are not different from those in the real world.

Zepeto operated by Naver Z is one example of a metaverse service in Korea. In Zepeto, users can create an avatar that looks just like a user, synthesizing it naturally on a picture or virtual background with AR technology. One interesting point is its way of communicating with avatars. Users can change all elements of their character like facial expressions, gestures, and fashion styles as they want. Generation Z gets vicarious pleasure from reflecting the way they want on avatars like idol makeup and luxury clothes. There are also many activities like taking photos, recording videos, dancing and playing games. By interacting with text, voice, and emotions, avatars with individuality can communicate in a virtual world, playing a role as SNS.

There are interesting events going on in the metaverse. Many metaverse services had some partnerships with famous brands and entertainment agencies like SM, YG, JYP, and HYBE. One was a virtual fan meeting of Blackpink in Zepeto. More than 50 million people around the world got signatures and took pictures with Blackpink avatars. People can also wear clothes and accessories of BT21, the BTS character, and visit the BT21 world. It could maximize the immersion and participation of Generation Z based on their characteristics that value bonding. The metaverse acts as a new type of fan platform. There was also a metaverse matriculation ceremony at Soonchunhyang University. The freshmen could participate with their avatars in this ceremony. They listened to speeches and introduced themselves to others like the real ceremony. It is like the continuity across reality and the virtual world.

The plays of Generation MZ in the metaverse doesn’t end here. Now Generation MZ creates and shares new things freely using the metaverse, not just getting the contents. They made new games, fashions, and even drama in the metaverse. The concept of metaverse doesn’t remain as games. For Generation MZ, it became one way of playing and culture.

Nahyun Lee

K-UNIV Reporter