Senior Secretary for AI Ha Jung-woo met with Michael Kratsios, Deputy Minister of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) at the White House on the 6th to discuss collaboration on science and technology led by AI. With both countries having reached a tariff agreement and ahead of the Korea-U.S. summit at the end of this month, it's notable that the science and technology heads of both countries discussed cooperation in related fields.
According to the Presidential Office, the two sides met on the 4th during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting. The Korean government confirmed the significance of full-stack AI exports concerning the United States' recently announced "AI action plan" and positively discussed close cooperation between the two countries in areas such as manufacturing AI, open source, scientific AI, and AI data centers and energy, the Presidential Office reported.
In our government, Senior Secretary Ha and Kim Woo-chang, National AI Policy Secretary, and Song Gi-ho, Economic Security Secretary, attended. The U.S. side included Deputy Minister Kratsios and Vice Minister Jeffrey Kessler from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Deputy Minister Kratsios met with Minister Bae Kyung-hun of the Ministry of Science and ICT the following day, on the 5th. The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We shared the AI policy directions, including the AI action plan of the United States, and discussed cooperation on technology and infrastructure."
This meeting came as the government accelerated its 'Sovereign AI' strategy starting with the establishment of a national representative AI model. For our government, a dual strategy is necessary to build an independent ecosystem of 'AI middle powers' within the existing AI ecosystem centered around the United States and China. This occurred two weeks after the Trump administration announced its 'AI action plan' to export full-stack to allied countries on the 23rd.
After meeting with Senior Secretary Ha, Deputy Minister Kratsios remarked on X (formerly Twitter) that "it was impressive that Korea is seriously engaged in AI innovation and adoption," adding that he looks forward to cooperation in building America's AI export program.