The National Intelligence Service has begun hiring professor-level talent in artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. As AI-based cybersecurity threats are emerging as a national security issue, core state institutions are joining the race to secure high-level AI talent.
According to the National Intelligence Service on the 26th, the agency said it will hire professors in AI and big data through a recruitment notice for fixed-term professors. Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in AI and big data-related fields such as computer science, computing, electronic information and communications engineering, industrial engineering, or statistics, and have at least six years of teaching, research, or development experience in AI and related fields. They also need experience as the lead author of at least three papers published in domestic or international journals or presented at overseas academic conferences in the past five years.
The AI professor the National Intelligence Service is hiring this time is a position equivalent to a senior fixed-term public official. The senior grade is the highest among fixed-term ranks and is equivalent to a Vice Minister-level post, requiring a high degree of expertise. The National Intelligence Service has hired AI majors and practitioners in the past, but this is the first time it is seeking a professor-level AI expert. The agency's move to recruit high-level talent indicates that responding to AI-based issues has become that important.
On the 9th, at "Cyber Summit Korea (CSK) 2025," a cybersecurity event hosted by the National Intelligence Service at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, National Intelligence Service Director Lee Jong-seok said, "We are living in an era of AI transformation and a digital revolution. The government is also focusing its policy capabilities with the goal of leaping into the world's top three in AI," and added, "Cyber threats are becoming an obstacle to advancing toward AI leadership and economic prosperity." He went on to say, "In a hyperconnected society, this has become a shared security threat that can no longer be blocked by the power of a single country alone, so we must respond through international cooperation."
As the importance of AI has grown recently, key state institutions are also joining the battle for top AI talent. However, domestic AI workers are heading overseas. According to a report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Sustainable Growth Initiative (SGI) titled "The economic impact of the overseas outflow of Korea's highly skilled workers and response measures," last year Korea's net inflow of AI talent was –0.36 people, far behind major advanced countries such as Luxembourg (+8.92), Germany (+2.34), and the United States (+1.07), ranking 35th out of 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The report cited as reasons for the outflow of talent: ▲ a performance evaluation system focused on short-term results ▲ a seniority-based compensation system ▲ insufficient research infrastructure ▲ a lack of opportunities for international cooperation. It noted that, due to such an environment, a structure in which the more highly skilled the talent, the more likely they are to leave for overseas is becoming entrenched.
According to a forecast on manpower supply and demand in new technology fields released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2023, in the AI field there will be demand for 66,100 workers by 2027, but a shortage of 12,800. In particular, for high-level personnel such as research and development (R&D), only 23% of the demand (21,500) will be supplied, resulting in a shortfall of 16,600, it projected.
An IT industry official said, "As AI becomes a strategic asset for the nation, the hiring of high-level AI personnel at government agencies is expected to become more active going forward."