SK Telecom launches Seoul, LA tours in metaverse

SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Monday it has created a virtual space of tourist attractions on its metaverse platform Ifland.  

The telecom giant launched sightseeing content on some must-visit places in Seoul, such as N Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan, Cheonggyecheon Stream near City Hall, and shopping districts around Gangnam Station and Hongik University Station, as well as Mount Lee in Los Angeles, home to the famous Hollywood sign.

Metaverse users can enjoy a virtual tour similar to reality — they can visit historic sites and the observation deck at N Seoul Tower, peer into broadcaster YTN’s outdoor studio and try padlocking as many foreign tourists do in the real world.

SK Telecom has created the virtual space of the Gangnam Station area and Mount Lee using Yegaan Inc., a Korean startup specializing in special visualizations and 3D modeling. The tech firm took part in SK Telecom’s startup acceleration program last year.

The mobile carrier plans to grow the roster of global tourist attractions on Ifland. The metaverse platform was launched in July 2022 for Korean users and expanded to some 50 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia last November.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at deep@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.