To secure leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), not only excellent AI models but also a stable infrastructure environment—such as large-scale computing resources and data that support them—must be put in place.
Vice Minister Ryu Je-myeong of the Ministry of Science and ICT said this in congratulatory remarks at SMARTCLOUD SHOW 2026, the country's largest tech conference held on the 26th at The Westin Josun Seoul in Jung District, Seoul. He noted that the center of gravity in the global AI race is broadening beyond model development to securing infrastructure such as computing resources, data, and cloud.
The Vice Minister said, "AI has established itself as a core technology that is reshaping industrial competition and determining the future of nations," adding, "As countries around the world fiercely compete to secure AI leadership, Korea is also concentrating national capabilities with the goal of leaping into the world's top three in AI."
He assessed that domestic AI models developed under the independent AI foundation model project are being recognized as having global-level competitiveness alongside AI models from the United States and China. He also explained that Everyone's AI, a project to develop AI services for the general public using homegrown AI models, has taken its first step.
The government will move to expand AI infrastructure to bolster the competitiveness of homegrown AI models and services. The Vice Minister said, "The government is pursuing a range of policies to advance national AI infrastructure, including building a national AI computing center by 2028 and creating a large-scale AI data center ecosystem."
The Vice Minister also predicted that the importance of the cloud will grow further in the AI era. He said, "The cloud is a core foundation that helps efficiently leverage the computing resources and data needed to implement AI services," adding, "Its role is expanding as an essential platform that enables corporations and developers to create innovative AI services and accelerate AI transformation."
He said, "SMARTCLOUD SHOW, held under the theme 'AI moves the world,' is a meaningful venue to project the future that AI and the cloud will create and to discuss directions to secure global competitiveness."
He added, "I hope to see broad discussions on the development directions of future technologies such as AI agents and physical AI, as well as on ways to build the industrial ecosystem for the AI era, including computing infrastructure and data centers that support them," and, "The government will also collect the opinions discussed today and actively reflect them in policy."