The information technology (IT) authorities will pursue the activation of a ministerial consultative body with the industrial policy authorities to focus on the artificial intelligence transformation (AX) in the industrial field, which is noted as the last opportunity amid the weakening competitiveness of domestic manufacturing.
According to authorities on the 3rd, the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy planned to hold a ministerial meeting for AX policy cooperation on the 31st of last month in a location in Seoul, but the schedule was delayed due to the late return of Minister Kim, who participated in tariff negotiations in the United States.
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to discuss the establishment of a practical cooperation system between the two ministries and the definition of policy roles aimed at the rapid and efficient dissemination of AI in the industrial sector, with Minister Bae Kyung-hun and Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung attending from the ministry, and Minister Kim Jeong-gwan and First Vice Minister Moon Shin-hak representing the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The two ministries are expected to seek solutions to national challenges such as labor shortages due to low birth rates and weakening manufacturing competitiveness amid the pursuit by China by successfully implanting advanced AI capabilities, including physical AI, into industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare. The fact that the two ministers, each from LG AI Research and Doosan Enerbility, have a deep understanding of the industrial front raises expectations that the consultative body will operate smoothly.
Park Yoon-kyu, the head of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, who served as the Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized at a press briefing held on the 31st that, "AI companies should create the brains of devices, and the industrial sector should utilize them, combining the currently divided roles of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy into one coherent structure." He added, "The Presidential Committee on Policy Planning or the Presidential Committee on AI should mediate to ensure that the two ministries can work together as a unified team."
Just as Korea has used its superior shipbuilding technology as leverage in tariff negotiations with the United States, there are suggestions that establishing a unique position in the AX field could become a weapon for us in the future. In fact, at the world's largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition, CES, held in Las Vegas, United States, in 2023, when Korea displayed IT technology integrated with ship operation, it reportedly drew significant interest from Google, which proposed cooperation. Google, strong in terrestrial geospatial information, lacks ships built in the United States, making it difficult to collect maritime data as they cannot install satellite navigation devices, which has led to a gap in maritime information.