Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Seoul mayor, announced a pledge to foster the Guro and Gasan Digital Complex area as a hub for physical artificial intelligence (AI). On the same day, the candidate visited the LG AI Research Institute in Magok to discuss collaboration.
On the 11th, Chong released the "AI G2 Seoul" pledge. The plan is to allow every Seoul resident to benefit from AI.
Specifically, the AI research capabilities built in Yangjae will be linked to the industrial base in Guro and Gasan for robots, manufacturing, logistics, and distribution. This would build a "Seoul-style physical AI ecosystem" that operates in real industrial sites, not AI confined to research and development.
Chong said, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government will become the first customer of AI corporations and, using traffic, mobility, and urban management data, will expand projects to develop and demonstrate services such as public facilities inspection robots, Autonomous Driving shuttles, and urban safety AI."
Chong also announced, "We will create AI bases by leveraging the public infrastructure of the 25 districts." He said services would include offering basic education for residents, AI adoption consulting for small business owners, AI transition training for young and middle-aged adults, and AI access support for seniors, people with disabilities, and the digitally underserved.
The plan also includes strengthening public safety using AI. It envisions introducing an "AI shield," including: ▲ welfare AI that detects crisis signals early ▲ safety AI that responds to stalking and nighttime hazards ▲ disaster AI that predicts flooding and fires ▲ small business AI that supports sales, inventory, and customer service ▲ financial safety AI that prevents voice phishing and deepfakes ▲ installation of an AI damage relief center.
On the morning of the 11th, Chong visited the LG AI Research Institute in Magok-dong, Gangseo District, Seoul, and discussed AI-based administrative innovation and ways to apply it to public services with the research team.
At the meeting, Chong said, "As reviewed previously, we plan to attract the UN AI Hub to Seoul." On the 8th, Chong announced a plan to develop Yongsan into a "global AI governance capital" on par with the UN headquarters in New York in the United States, making it the mecca of AI industry standards, ethics, and international norms.
Chong observed a demonstration of LG's large-scale AI model "EXAONE." EXAONE is a large language model (LLM) developed by LG that recently ranked first in the first-stage review of the government's national AI flagship project.
Chong also tested "Chat EXAONE," implemented as a conversational service, asking it about "things Chong Won-o did well." When Chong asked, "Are LG employees using it?" a researcher said, "It is already being used within affiliates as an enterprise AI to improve work efficiency."