Issue Focus

Korean researchers have successfully led the approval of 52 new metaverse-related technologies as international standards through their participation in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency. This highlights Korea's leadership in setting international standards in the emerging metaverse field.
The 7th Metaverse Focus Group meeting in Geneva, chaired by ETRI researcher Kang Shin-gak, saw 21 preliminary standard documents approved. Established in December 2022 by ETRI, the group has now approved a total of 52 documents in just 18 months, an unprecedented achievement. The focus group was created with unanimous agreement from national representatives and industry members at the ITU-T Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group meeting.
The approved standards cover key areas such as metaverse overview, platform interoperability, and the integration of virtual and real worlds using digital twins. These efforts are expected to provide significant advantages for Korean researchers and companies in the metaverse market. ETRI plans to present these achievements at the ITU-T World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-2024) in October and use them as a foundation for future standard development activities from 2025 to 2028.