"AI agents will support the daily lives of all citizens and create an AI society where no one is left behind," said Ryu Je-myung, the Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT, on July 9 at the ABC Launch Celebration AI Ecosystem Innovation Forum held at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul.
Ryu expressed his heartfelt congratulations on the launch of AI-focused broadcasting network ABC and stated, "I am pleased to be part of this meaningful event, the AI Ecosystem Innovation Forum."
He noted that global competition in AI is expanding into an investment race. "Currently, the global AI competition has escalated into an astronomical investment competition," Ryu explained, adding that the combined investment in AI infrastructure by the four major U.S. tech companies—Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta—amounts to approximately 1,000 trillion won. He emphasized that the future industrial hegemony will ultimately depend on who secures leadership in AI technology.
Ryu assessed that South Korea's AI competitiveness is rapidly increasing. According to the Stanford AI Index, South Korea ranks third in the world for the number of AI models, moving up one spot from last year. He pointed out that AI is quickly spreading into daily life, industries, and public sectors. He mentioned applications ranging from countering voice phishing in telecommunications to semiconductor production at SK Hynix, as well as expanding overseas collaborations with global companies like NVIDIA, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind.
To support this competitiveness, Ryu highlighted the establishment of a regulatory framework, stating, "We have laid the institutional groundwork for the AI ecosystem through the implementation of the AI Basic Act and the enactment of the Special Act on AI Data Centers."
He announced plans to elevate AI competitiveness further through three major mega projects. Ryu stated, "We will cultivate the southwestern semiconductor and Chungcheong advanced packaging clusters into global industrial hubs and establish a Korean-style AI industrial ecosystem that organically combines semiconductors, AI, and physical AI."
The government aims to strengthen AI competitiveness focusing on AI infrastructure, AI model competitiveness, and next-generation AI. Ryu mentioned, "We are preparing to establish a public-private joint venture special purpose company (SPC) for the construction of a national AI computing center, enhancing the competitiveness of domestic neural processing units (NPUs) and localizing key equipment for AI data centers to create a domestic AI data center ecosystem."
He added, "We will invest more boldly to secure world-class AI models and strengthen investments in next-generation AI technologies, such as agentic AI, to become a country that leads and rapidly utilizes the future AI market."
Ryu also emphasized the government's commitment to advancing the 'Everyone's AI' project without delay this year. He stated, "We will promote the 'Everyone's AI' project so that all citizens can learn AI as they do with Korean and arithmetic, and use it like a calculator, opening the era of one AI agent per person."
Ryu concluded by asserting, "South Korea is a country with semiconductor manufacturing capabilities that the world envies, continuous innovation, excellent talent, and a dynamic market. We will not just follow the AI era but will create a new industrial order." He expressed hope that the AI Ecosystem Innovation Forum would be a meaningful opportunity to discuss the direction of South Korea's AI ecosystem development.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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