Ha Jung-woo, the presidential office’s senior secretary for AI Future Planning, submitted his resignation on 28, creating a vacancy at the center of the government’s AI policy push. Attention is turning to who will succeed him and steer the government’s 100 trillion won AI investment plan.
Ha stepped down after formally declaring he will run in the Busan Buk-gu Gap parliamentary by-election. Having served as an architect of AI policy since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung government, his departure has drawn industry attention over whether it could affect the execution of the 100 trillion won plan.
On 27, as Ha’s future became a public issue, three Naver figures who worked closely with him — Lee Dong-soo, an executive director at Naver Cloud; Kwon Se-jung, a Naver Cloud director; and Park Bae-seong, a leader — said on their social media accounts that they will leave Naver as of April 30. They said they will launch a company as co-founders in the field of “agent AI computing solutions.”
Lee said he had long wanted to start a business and that the three decided to move forward together. “We wrapped things up well without any conflict with Naver,” he said, describing the move as a previously expected step.
Some in politics see it differently. Because Lee’s departure became official around the same time as Ha’s resignation, speculation has grown that Lee has been tapped as the next senior AI secretary.
Lee is described as having strong ties to Ha inside Naver. He holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University and previously worked at IBM’s Watson Research Center and as a principal researcher at Samsung Research. At Naver, he is credited with building the foundation of what is now Naver Cloud. He also serves as a member of the Technology Innovation and Infrastructure subcommittee of the National AI Strategy Committee, a government AI policy think tank. Some say his mix of field, research and policy experience fits the presidential AI post.
Lee, however, denied any link between Ha’s resignation and the startup plan. “We exchanged messages at the level of encouraging each other in our respective positions,” he said. “Ha’s resignation and this startup are unrelated.”
Other names are also being mentioned. Shin Jin-woo, a professor at KAIST’s Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI who chairs the same subcommittee, has been cited, as has Kim Dae-hyun, head of the AI Center at Samsung Electronics’ Samsung Research and a member of the subcommittee. Moon Yong-sik, president of the National Information Society Agency, is also listed among possible candidates.
An academic source said that given the Lee Jae-myung government’s pragmatic approach, someone similar in style to Ha is likely to be appointed. The source added that the shortlist is expected to be narrowed around figures from the National AI Strategy Committee.
With the Lee Jae-myung government defining AI as a core national growth engine and pledging a 100 trillion won investment plan, observers say the top priority will be a successor who can ensure policy continuity.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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