For the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, three key elements are essential: electricity, data, and talent. However, the common point among these three elements is that they are areas where the private sector cannot take immediate action. It is necessary for the government to actively take on a catalytic role.
Lee Yong-tak, head of the Growth Support Division at SK Telecom, said this on the 6th during a public hearing held at the National Assembly Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss the enactment of a special law for the development of the AI industry. The hearing, chaired by People Power Party member Ko Dong-jin of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, saw participation from various AI stakeholders in industry and academia providing policy suggestions for the advancement of the AI industry. Ko is pushing for the establishment of a 'Special Law for the Development of the AI Industry' focused on advancing the AI industry, and he plans to gather opinions from the industry through this hearing to submit a final version of the special law to the National Assembly.
Ko noted, "Until now, discussions on AI have focused on safety, but this year safety has been pushed to the background, and the paradigm has shifted to security centered around 'sovereign AI.' The 'AI Basic Law' passed by the 21st National Assembly has a focus on safety, which has shortcomings in supporting the developing AI industry." He added, "Last month, the United States and China announced governance related to AI in succession, and Korea must now concentrate on how to utilize AI for security and industrial development."
In a keynote address, Kim Yoo-chul, head of the Strategy Division at LG AI Research, said, "As AI competition takes place on a national level, a small number of countries may monopolize the technology and benefits. While global big tech companies are currently offering AI models for free or providing application programming interfaces (APIs) at low cost, there is a significant possibility that they will raise prices and absorb benefits once they secure technological dependency." He emphasized, "The 'top two' AI winner-takes-all model may occur between the U.S. and China, and Korea should aim for 'top three' to secure competitiveness. We need to acquire technological capabilities that can be used as substitutes for China and the U.S. worldwide, not just an AI model that works well in Korean."
Several policy proposals were presented to enhance AI competitiveness. A claim was made to secure AI competitiveness through vertical optimization. Lee Dong-soo, senior vice president at Naver Cloud, stated, "To ensure AI model performance, comprehensive vertical optimization covering ▲software ▲hardware ▲data centers ▲infrastructure is essential, and the level of independence in hardware and infrastructure will have a decisive influence on AI performance and expense competitiveness." He added, "While national investment is needed to foster this, it is important for the government to proceed in a way that adjusts direction based on fair and rigorous evaluations and grants incentives based on a general direction."
There were also calls for policy financial support centered on subsidies. Lee Yong-tak of SK Telecom said, "The most favorable provision for the industry in the provisions of the Special Law for the Development of the AI Industry is the direct subsidy policy financial support for AI businesses." He noted, "While tax support is important, I wonder how many companies can benefit from it, as there aren't many firms generating revenue right now." He continued, "Direct subsidy support should be explicitly listed in the law rather than delegated to enforcement ordinances; for instance, Japan has a law that stipulates support for up to 50% of construction costs, to a maximum of 300 billion won, when establishing AI data centers in local areas."
Additionally, there was an opinion that a unified governance body at the governmental level should be established to ensure consistency and sustainability in AI industry promotion policies. Shin Gye-young, head of the Gen.AI Business Team at Samsung SDS, stated, "Korea has been enacting the AI Basic Law and producing various strategies, but there are sporadic plans from different ministries that create confusion from the industry's perspective. To overcome this, there should be a unified governmental AI governance body that can play a control tower role to enhance the continuity and uniformity of policies."