"The gap in artificial intelligence (AI) technology between the United States and Korea is 2.2 years, and the goal is to reduce it to 0.5 years in a few years. Through AI adoption across all sectors of society (an all-round AI grand transition), we will help achieve a potential growth rate of 3% by 2030."
Bae Kyung-hun, Minister of Science and ICT, said this at a press briefing marking the 50th day since taking office at the HJ Business Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 12th.
Minister Bae said, "Next year's AI budget has been set at 10 trillion won, three times this year's," and added, "To become one of the top three AI powerhouses, we will work to have technological and service capabilities close to those of the United States and China." He went on, "We need to build an ecosystem that enables sustained investment, and innovation in research and development (R&D) is also necessary. During my term, I will lay the foundation for such progress."
Minister Bae said that by 2028 the government will secure 50,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) ahead of schedule. He said, "A survey of demand from academia, research circles, and small and midsize enterprises found that 147,000 GPUs will be needed by 2030," adding, "The government will be able to support about 30% of that demand."
Minister Bae emphasized the importance of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure for AI development. Minister Bae said, "When an era comes in which AI agents communicate with each other in the future, more networks and more power will be needed," adding, "Securing communications infrastructure will become even more important."
Minister Bae also offered views on elevating the position to deputy prime minister for science and technology. Minister Bae said, "We need to establish the optimal strategy to become a top-three AI powerhouse, but since each government ministry has its own agenda, it seems each is formulating a different AX (AI transformation) strategy," adding, "It is difficult even when we pool our strength into one; I thought power should not be dispersed, so I believed establishing governance is necessary. If the ministry is upgraded, we will approach it with attention to these aspects."
Minister Bae said that in addition to strengthening sovereign AI, cooperation with global big tech companies is also necessary. He said, "We recognize that it is difficult for domestic AI foundation models to compete with U.S. big tech. So we are not saying we will focus only on sovereign AI. We believe cooperation with overseas companies is also necessary," adding, "In specialized (AI service) areas, Korea has strengths in some parts, so I think we need to attract U.S. (overseas) capital. We should take a multifaceted strategy."
Lastly, Minister Bae also stated his position on the recent hacking of a telecommunications company. Minister Bae said, "We need comprehensive measures, such as fostering white-hat hackers to respond to hacking. Rather than trying to solve problems with case-by-case responses, we plan to seek fundamental measures." He added, "Right now, investigations can only proceed after corporations report an intrusion incident, but if (in our view) something is suspicious, I think legal revisions are needed so that we can investigate immediately."