President Lee Jae-myung said, "Without (Korea's) semiconductor plants, the global industry can't keep running," adding it "completely changed the impression of Korea."
On the 25th (local time) in San Francisco, Lee said, "The goal is to make Korea an irreplaceable country," and "until now, we learned from other countries' examples and pursued a catch-up strategy, but from now on I want to build a Korea that takes a half-step ahead as a leader," and stated accordingly.
Lee said, "In the past, when people thought of Korea, they pictured children who lost their parents in war wandering the streets, but now, without semiconductor plants, the global industry can't keep running. It completely changed the impression of Korea."
Lee then highlighted the public's "democracy experience" as Korea's competitive edge to meet the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Lee said, "In preparing for the AI era, the people of Korea have multiple strengths," adding, "among them, democracy experience is an important asset."
He added, "Among countries liberated from colonial rule, Korea is the only one that achieved democratization and industrialization at the same time," and assessed that "overcoming crises such as praetorian military coups without major bloodshed was a peaceful revolution rare even in world history."
He stressed, "In a high-tech-centered society, democracy functions as a key factor in industrial and economic development," and "rationality, objectivity, transparency, and predictability form an important foundation for economic growth."
Lee also touched on the government's AI policy direction. He said, "Because AI has a major impact across industry, the economy, and the real world, proactive preparation at the national level is necessary," adding, "it has been less than a year since we decided to focus Korea's future strategy on advanced technology and AI, but the world is already paying attention to Korea." He added, "The international community's response has consistently exceeded expectations."