South Korea's Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) is rolling out a comprehensive overhaul of its performance evaluation framework for blockchain subsidy programs, aiming to eliminate so-called ghost applications — government-funded blockchain services that fail to gain market traction or cease operating despite receiving public financial support. The agency, which operates under the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), has administered blockchain subsidies as part of a national digital infrastructure strategy that dates back to Korea's 2018 Blockchain Technology Development Plan, making the credibility of these programs a matter of broader policy significance.

The revised framework marks a fundamental shift in evaluation philosophy. Rather than simply confirming project completion, KISA will now assess whether funded services continue to operate effectively and achieve meaningful commercial adoption after launch. The reform reflects a broader government push to ensure that public funding delivers sustainable technological and economic outcomes, and comes as other governments worldwide — including Singapore, the European Union, and the UAE — have similarly grappled with how to measure real-world impact from publicly funded blockchain and distributed ledger pilots.

Large-Scale Audit to Cover 95 Blockchain Projects

According to financial sector sources, KISA plans to conduct a comprehensive performance audit by December covering 95 government-supported initiatives completed between 2021 and 2025. The review will encompass 83 blockchain proof-of-concept projects and 12 application programming interface (API) development support programs. The scale of the audit — spanning five years of completed projects — represents one of the most comprehensive post-hoc evaluations of a national blockchain subsidy portfolio publicly disclosed by any government to date.

Previous assessments primarily measured whether original project objectives had been fulfilled. The upcoming review, by contrast, will introduce new indicators designed to evaluate medium- and long-term market performance. KISA is expected to develop these metrics with input from industry professionals and academic experts, while also examining domestic and international approaches to technology program evaluation.

The new criteria under consideration include commercialization performance, market sustainability, and continued service availability. These additions are intended to provide a more comprehensive assessment of whether publicly funded blockchain initiatives deliver lasting value beyond the development phase.

Operational Verification Becomes a Key Requirement

A central feature of the revised framework is a stricter post-project management system that directly verifies whether funded applications and web services remain functional after deployment. KISA plans to access subsidized services directly to confirm they continue operating as intended.

When a service cannot be adequately assessed through external testing or requires additional verification, agency officials are expected to conduct on-site inspections to evaluate operational conditions, maintenance practices, and overall system management. The enhanced oversight aims to reduce instances of government-supported applications becoming inactive shortly after launch — an issue that has drawn significant criticism in recent years.

Performance Metrics Expand Beyond Job Creation

KISA is also revising how it measures the economic impact of blockchain subsidy programs. Previous evaluation methods drew criticism for relying heavily on supplier-oriented indicators, particularly the number of new full-time jobs created within the blockchain industry.

Management performance reports published in 2023 and 2024 used employment growth as the primary indicator for measuring the activation of new digital services. During those periods, newly created full-time positions reached 72 and 102 respectively, with performance scores calculated relative to annual project budgets. Critics noted that such metrics could be satisfied even when the resulting applications saw little or no actual public use.

Under the revised framework, KISA intends to supplement employment data with additional indicators that better reflect commercialization success, user adoption, and broader market impact. The objective is to provide a more accurate assessment of how government-supported blockchain projects perform once they enter commercial operation.

Findings to Shape Future Blockchain Policies

The audit results are expected to influence future blockchain support initiatives. KISA plans to identify successful projects and publish case study collections in both Korean and English, examining the factors that contributed to their commercialization. The decision to publish in both languages signals an intent to share lessons with the international policy community and position Korean blockchain projects for cross-border visibility.

The agency is expected to analyze business strategies, operational practices, and market adoption patterns demonstrated by successful services. These findings will feed into future policy development, funding criteria, and evaluation standards for blockchain programs.

KISA plans to use the audit findings to establish new commercialization benchmarks and develop future blockchain funding policies grounded in proven market success rather than development completion alone. With the audit scheduled for completion by December, the results are expected to inform South Korea's next round of blockchain budget allocations and program design.

The institutional changes are widely seen as a response to criticism that earlier subsidy programs lacked sufficient post-project oversight. Reports of inactive applications, limited downloads, and unresolved user issues had raised concerns that previous evaluation methods overemphasized project execution and employment statistics while giving insufficient weight to user adoption, long-term service operation, and commercial viability.