For Safe Payment and Authentication
At the first press conference held at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in the Government Complex Sejong on March 6 after the inauguration, Cho Yong-man, president of the Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO), said, “We are planning to launch the KOMSCO Trusted Platform that provides services in the public sector such as safe payment and authentication as well as information protection and management services by the end of the second half of this year by combining blockchain with the trust that KOMSCO has garnered in the sector.
Moreover, the KOMSCO will focus on securing the future leading technologies by strengthening its competence in research and development (R&D). As the sole manufacturer of Korean currency since its establishment in 1951, KOMSCO has much knowhow, including 557 intellectual property patents in anti-forgery technology. The company hopes to use them more in the authentication and brand protection businesses and expand investments in R&D. It will also work together with private partner firms to co-develop technologies.
In addition, the KOMSCO plans to aggressively participate in state-run R&D projects to improve the national technology competitiveness for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The KOMSCO will improve its global competitiveness through continuous productivity improvement and cost cuts that will help diversify its market overseas. The company has been mostly exporting banknote paper and coins but it will diversify export items to special inks, pigments, bullion medals and identification products. It also plans to diversify its export markets through collaboration with related agencies such as the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).