Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that South Korea will become the first country in the world to start commercial operations for fifth-generation mobile network services next month.

The minister made the announcement on Wednesday at a meeting on innovation-led growth in Seoul, saying the service will contribute to improving the quality of people's lives. 

Hong said the country's three mobile operators, KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus, will invest over three trillion won this year to set up seamless 5G networks in the country. 

He expressed hope that the commercialization of 5G service, which transmits data at great speeds, will promote development in the ICT industry as well as convergence with other industries. 

5G promises to significantly boost the speed and responsiveness of wireless networks, with data transmission speeds 40 to 50 times faster than the existing 4G network or long-term evolution(LTE).