President Lee Jae-myung said he would foster Korea as a core country in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain and as an AI cooperation platform for the consolidation of global technology, capital, and talent.
At the "AI Summit" held in San Francisco on the 24th (local time), the president said in a declaration released there, "The Republic of Korea will become a global AI production base and a fertile ground for innovation, and will leap forward as an irreplaceable global AI cooperation platform where global technology, capital, talent, and ideas are consolidation."
He said, "The Republic of Korea seeks to present a future AI vision first, cooperate with the world, and become a country that creates a better future for humanity."
The president assessed that the era when AI competitiveness was determined only by software technology is over. Computing resources and energy, data, semiconductors, and the ability to apply them to industry must be consolidation into a single supply chain.
He said, "Even the world's best AI models cannot operate without a stable supply of advanced semiconductors, and even excellent semiconductors can create new value only when there is massive demand from AI," adding, "The AI era is one in which technology and production capacity, data and energy, and markets and talent are consolidation into a massive supply chain."
He then emphasized, "How stably we build this supply chain is the most important task we must tackle together."
The president said, "Based on Korea's world-class competitiveness and production capacity in memory semiconductors, we will become a reliable AI Semiconductor production base and supply chain partner." He also said, "We will ensure that corporations around the world can build AI infrastructure stably in any situation and continue technological innovation."
Regarding the government's "three mega projects" in the AI field released last month, he explained that they are "a national-level supply chain safety device to continue semiconductor production under any crisis and a responsible investment to prevent a global semiconductor shortage."
He also unveiled a plan to make Korea a global test bed where AI technology is tested and produced at the same time.
The president said, "We will become a global AI test bed and production platform where AI works in practice not only in laboratories and digital spaces but also across manufacturing plants, cities, and logistics sites."
He added, "On the AI production platform Korea builds, AI will be developed and validated faster and applied more widely on industrial sites."
The government also plans to use the "Everyone's AI project" it is promoting as a foundation for creating global AI demand. The aim is to raise AI utilization by domestic industry and the public while enabling the technologies and services of global AI corporations to be applied in real-world settings.
The president said, "It will be a new demand base that drives growth not only for the Republic of Korea alone but for the entire global AI ecosystem."
He also proposed expanding AI cooperation among countries. The idea is to broaden cooperation networks between governments and corporations so AI can be developed to fit each country's language, culture, and industrial environment.
He said, "We will build horizontal cooperation networks with a variety of countries to create new AI markets and enable more people in more nations to participate in the opportunities of AI innovation."
He added, "Based on the accumulated AI infrastructure and technological capacity, we will expand cooperation between countries and between corporations so AI suited to each country's language, culture, and industrial environment can be developed and used."
He also stressed international discussions to spread the benefits of AI across society.
The president said, "For a future in which humans and AI coexist in harmony and grow together, we propose cooperation by the international community," adding, "We are considering new distribution models so the benefits of AI do not remain with a particular class but can spread throughout society."
He continued, "We will do our responsible part so the philosophy of an AI basic society can spread to the international community."