by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s office announced Monday that more than 100 billion won (US $90 million) will be injected to nurture startups in gaming and other tech industries, reports Yonhap News Agency.
A state-managed credit guarantee fund will mainly provide the financial assistance to small companies and startups in tech fields, including games, financial technology and the Internet-of-Things, said the presidential office.
The announcement was made as President Park opened the most recent innovation center in Pangyo, South Korea’s answer to California’s Silicon Valley that is home to several tech companies. At the opening ceremony, Park said that the Pangyo innovation center will “guide startups to make inroads into global markets” and “serve as a base camp” for companies trying to make inroads into foreign countries.
Pangyo generates about 85 percent of sales of all listed South Korea’s gaming companies and accounts for more than 70 percent of exports of South Korean games, according to Yonhap.
In recent years, professional video gaming has become a viable career choice in South Korea. Last October, professional e-sports team Samsung White took home $1 million for winning the League of Legends world championship, which was attended by 40,000 spectators at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
As South Korea continues to rise a gaming powerhouse, the government has been enforcing laws and introducing new treatments to help curb the nation’s growing problem with video game addiction. According to Reuters, about one in 10 South Korean children between the ages of 10 and 19 are addicted to the Internet.
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Featured image via Engadget
