The NFT 2023 Seoul Conference, held Friday at Coex in southern Seoul, explored the future of non-fungible tokens, discussing how the decentralized technology would innovate diverse fields from blockchain to finance and art in the near future.

The one-day event was organized by The Korea Herald, the nation’s largest English daily, together with ArtToken, a Seoul-based digital art platform, and Soongsil University.

“Even at this moment, the world is evolving at a fast pace,” Korea Herald CEO Choi Jin-young said in a congratulatory speech. “We should seek innovative advancements that can change the paradigm and lead humanity.”

“Korea is at an important turning point of becoming a fully developed country. Managing digital assets is a crucial technology for that,” Choi said. “Through technologies such as NFT, I believe Korea can be a country that cannot be substituted by others.”

Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties also attended the event to look into legislative efforts to accelerate the wider adoption of NFT technology across industries.

“In June, the National Assembly passed the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, the first legislation related to virtual assets here,” ruling People Power Party Rep. Yoon Young-seok said.

“We will ask the government to allocate a budget to create an NFT for Palmandaejangyeong. It will be a chance to promote Korea’s history and NFT culture to the world,” Yoon added.

Palmandaejangyeong, also known as the Tripitaka Koreana, is a collection of 13th-century Buddhist wooden printing blocks. The storage hall at Haeinsa, a temple in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Rep. Kim Byung-uk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea echoed Yoon's enthusiasm for the technology.

“NFT is an exciting opportunity for Korea. Finance firms are joining hands to prepare for the new era of utilizing the technology,” Kim said. “NFT will lead diverse changes in all industries in the near future.”

“This is an event where global leaders gather to seek ways to connect reality with the virtual world through NFT. In the future, NFT will play key roles in the evolution of music and art,” Hong Ji-suk, CEO of ArtToken, said. “In the time of this great transition, NFT will be the hub of global interchanges along with blockchain and art.”

Other speakers at the event included Patrick Yoon, CEO of crypto exchange Cyrpto.com Korea, Cha In-hyuk, former CEO of CJ Olive Networks, the information technology solution developer under CJ Group and Lee Young-jae, senior executive of local brokerage firm Mirae Asset Securities.