SEOUL, October 15 (AJP) - South Korea’s digital expertise, manufacturing strength and rapid modernization make it well placed to help narrow a global wealth divide that artificial intelligence could deepen, a senior World Bank executive said.
“What we call Big AI is an ecosystem dominated by just a handful of advanced countries — not even all advanced countries — and a small number of global corporations,” said Kim Sangbu, the World Bank Group’s vice president for Digital and AI. “That makes it difficult for low- and middle-income countries to participate actively.”
The imbalance creates a clear role for South Korea, Kim told AJP in a Zoom interview ahead of his visit to Seoul for next week’s Global AI and Digital Summit.
For developing economies, he argued, the greatest opportunity lies in applying affordable AI to everyday problems rather than competing to build the world’s most powerful models. Korea’s experience offers practical lessons in everything from managing water to helping small businesses use data.
“The greater value lies not necessarily in building those systems, but in how effectively countries use them to strengthen their own industrial capabilities.”
The Oct. 19–22 summit, jointly hosted by the World Bank Group and South Korea’s ministries of finance and economy and science and ICT, will examine how digital technologies can create jobs, raise productivity and improve services in developing economies.
Kim said it would be the first time the World Bank had taken the event outside Washington, where the previous two gatherings were held.
“There has been considerable interest in the independent, sovereign AI models being pursued by the Korean government and Korean companies,” he said.
“At the same time, many of the practical AI applications being developed in Korea align very closely with the World Bank’s policy priorities.”
The aim is to help developing countries identify technologies and policies they can adapt to their own circumstances. Several initiatives and potential cooperation projects will be introduced or discussed at the summit, although Kim declined to disclose details ahead of the event.
He singled out South Korea’s digital water management as a promising model for countries struggling with food insecurity, natural disasters and inadequate infrastructure.
“Water is an especially critical resource in developing countries,” Kim said. “It is closely connected to agriculture and food security, while effective water management can improve productivity, create jobs and prevent disasters.”
He cited systems developed by the Korea Water Resources Corporation, commonly known as K-water, to monitor and manage water resources.
“If we can successfully adapt Korea’s digital and AI-based water management systems to developing countries and integrate them into their own water management frameworks, that would be a highly rewarding example of successful development cooperation,” he said.
Success, he stressed, should be measured by how many people benefit and what improves in their lives, rather than simply how many Korean technologies are introduced abroad.
Agriculture offers another opportunity, particularly for smallholder farmers with limited access to finance, equipment and specialist advice.
“Applying AI to agriculture goes far beyond simply telling farmers when it will snow, rain or flood,” Kim said.
Applications can identify crop diseases and pests, assess soil conditions and recommend pesticides or the appropriate types and quantities of fertilizer. Digital platforms can also connect farmers with small loans to buy seeds and supplies, or with nearby machinery rental services.
“A farmer who would otherwise spend a month plowing a field could rent a machine and finish the work in a single day,” he said. “These applications are producing truly remarkable results in improving agricultural productivity.”
Such uses illustrate what Kim calls “Small AI”: affordable tools adapted to local needs that can operate with relatively limited infrastructure and data, including on smartphones.
The distinction matters for countries without the resources to compete with global technology companies developing ever-larger models.
Similar applications in health care and education could help communities with too few doctors and teachers. But making them useful requires reliable local information.
“Local AI applications have to understand local languages, local climate conditions and local circumstances,” Kim said.
“That requires the capacity to collect and analyze local information, but it does not necessarily require enormous computing power.”
Governments need to make public data accessible and establish frameworks that allow businesses to develop services, he said. Market forces alone will not be enough.
The World Bank is seeking to address those gaps through its “@A Billion” initiative, which aims to reach one billion people by 2030: 600 million using broadband internet and 400 million using digitally enabled services.
The program focuses on access, affordability, digital ecosystems and countries’ readiness to adopt and adapt AI. About 2.2 billion people worldwide still do not use the internet, while less than 1 percent of global AI traffic flows to low-income countries, according to the World Bank.
Asked where a finance minister with limited resources should invest first — AI, data centers, electricity, internet access or education — Kim chose electricity.
“Fundamentally, the power grid would come first,” he said. “Without electricity, you cannot use the internet. Even if you have a mobile phone, you cannot charge it.”
But governments should not wait until an entire national power network is complete before investing in other areas. Cities, businesses and communities already able to use digital services need skills, infrastructure and practical applications alongside the expansion of basic utilities.
“Even when there is a clear sequence of priorities, it would not be desirable to concentrate on just one area until everything there is completed,” he said.
The employment stakes are substantial. The World Bank estimates that about 1.2 billion young people will reach working age in developing countries over the next 10 to 15 years, while those economies are projected to create only about 420 million jobs.
Its 2026 World Development Report, “The Promise of Artificial Intelligence,” estimates that 4.5 percent of jobs in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of automation by generative AI. By comparison, 16.2 percent could see meaningful productivity gains.
“We expect the improvements in productivity to outweigh the reduction in jobs,” Kim said. “Existing jobs should generate greater value, improving their quality, while new jobs can also be created.”
He pointed to shortages of doctors, nurses and teachers, where AI could help existing professionals serve more people. Higher agricultural productivity could also support new businesses and employment.
Those gains, however, depend on reliable electricity, digital infrastructure, education and effective government policies.
Kim rejected the idea that Korea’s development experience is useful only to countries that already have strong institutions, advanced education systems and extensive infrastructure. Many of Korea’s present strengths were themselves products of its development, he argued.
“If you look back 20, 30 or 40 years, Korea was not necessarily in a substantially different position from many of today’s developing countries, particularly middle-income countries,” he said.
“I am convinced that the fundamental lessons from Korea’s rapid development can be applied elsewhere.”
He identified government policy capabilities and investment in education as central to that transformation. Digital literacy campaigns and data voucher programs, which help startups and small businesses access data, offer more specific lessons.
AI could help developing countries build skills and improve government capabilities faster than Korea did during its industrialization. Yet rapid adoption without adequate safeguards could expose citizens to privacy breaches, cyberattacks and misuse of personal information.
“Without basic data protection mechanisms, the risks can be extremely serious,” Kim said.
Privacy legislation is only a starting point, he added. Governments also need the institutions and expertise to enforce it.
For Korean companies, the development agenda opens business opportunities that extend beyond technology exports.
“Digital and AI industries include many small and medium-sized companies,” Kim said.
“If they strengthen their understanding of overseas markets and local regulatory and labor conditions, I believe they will find many more opportunities.”
But importing technology alone will not give developing economies the expertise, skilled workers and capacity for innovation they need.
“If a country simply imports foreign technologies without developing its own capacity for innovation, it risks remaining dependent on imports,” he said.
Kim urged Korean businesses to view developing countries as long-term investment destinations. He singled out Africa, where population growth will create demand for goods, services and jobs.
“That means the markets of the future are there,” he said.
“If Korean capital and technology can be combined to support economic development in those countries, it could create greater value both locally and in Korea.”
That approach also informs the Korea–World Bank Group Global Digital Knowledge Center, launched in December 2025 to share Korean expertise and support digital development.
Kim acknowledged that the center had yet to produce major concrete results, partly because policy development and implementation take time. Several projects have recently been selected and begun receiving support.
Their eventual success will be judged by the policies countries adopt, the impact of those policies and the number of people who benefit.
Kim brings experience from both government and business to that task. His career spans South Korea’s former Ministry of Information and Communication, the Korea Communications Commission and the presidential office, followed by senior roles at LG Uplus and Google.
He joined the World Bank’s leadership in September 2024 after working on telecommunications policy, broadband expansion, digital literacy and technology partnerships — areas that now underpin his effort to help developing economies find their own path into the AI era.
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