<p>South Korea’s ministry of science and technology has plans to invest 450 billion won (~$382 million) for blockchain research and development.</p> <p>The agency would invest the amount over a period of six years from 2021 to 2026, ZDNet Korea <a href="http://www.zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20191121170726">reported</a> Thursday.</p> <p>Citing anonymous government officials, the report further said that the goal of the initiative is to create a foundation of data economy powered by blockchain technology.</p> <p>"The data trust problem must be solved in order for the data economy to become active. A blockchain can create a trust base for data sharing," a government official familiar with the plan, was quoted as saying in the report.<br /> <br /> The ministry is said to research various blockchain areas, including smart contract reliability, interoperability among blockchains, scalability and consensus algorithms.</p> <p><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/tag/south-korea">South Korea</a> has announced several blockchain initiatives in the past. Most recently, the Korea Internet Security Agency <a href="https://www.gov.kr/portal/puborgNews/2016629">said</a> it will support blockchain-related projects in 2020 with 10.5 billion won (~$9 million) in funding.</p>