Korean tech newspaper EDaily reports that from next Monday (July 12), people in Korea will be able to use the Kakao, Naver, PASS or TOSS apps to verify our vaccination status as well as to check in to bars, cafes and restaurants.
Up till now, users have had to open two apps — Naver, Kakao or PASS to check in to places for contact tracing purposes, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)’s COOV app to prove your vaccination status.
The story also claims the KCDA has decided not to oppose opening its data to a trial project by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) to create blockchain-powered vaccine passports using DID.
Quoting an unnamed KCDA official, EDaily says the KCDA has agreed to allow companies that develop cryptocurrencies to participate as long as their participation doesn’t involve issuing coins. The official said there’s no need to restrict specific companies as there is public demand to use such services.
According to EDaily, this opens the way for a consortium composed of ICONLOOP, SK Telecom, RaonSecure and Coinplug — i.e., the leaders of Korea’s big four DID alliances — to begin work on the KISA project.
The story points out that using DID, Korea could create vaccine passports that holders can use not only domestically, but internationally as well.
Now, we need to point out that a nameless KCDA official talking to a digital newspaper does not an official announcement make.
The stuff about Naver, Kakao, PASS and TOSS? That’s all official, and everyone is reporting it.
But the stuff about KISA and the blockchain companies? That’s just somebody from the KCDA talking to EDaily, and while it certainly could be true, nobody — at least nobody with a name — has confirmed it.
Nevertheless, EDaily has put it out there, and truth be told, talk of the KISA project has long been in the ether, so to speak. That’s why we share the talk with you, along with the caveats.
