The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will build a "K-AI City" that applies artificial intelligence (AI) technology across urban operations. By 2030, it plans to establish AI-specialized pilot cities and create an export model that combines urban infrastructure with AI services.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on the 9th announced the "K-AI City implementation strategy" with these details at the "2026 World Smart City Expo" held at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center (BEXCO) in Busan. The implementation strategy was prepared to realize the K-AI City being pursued as a national agenda item, with the goal of building a flagship K-AI City that leads the world's top three AI powers.
The implementation strategy consists of five key tasks: ▲ discovering AI innovation services ▲ building AI city infrastructure ▲ creating AI-specialized pilot cities ▲ spreading leading models ▲ establishing a legal and institutional foundation.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will develop "AI City + X services" that integrate AI into the urban sector. It will hold a call for AI services in the land and transport sector targeting private corporations, and expand excellent services as representative K-AI City services. In the public sector, it will prioritize developing high-impact services such as AI for building administration and AI for urban planning.
The development level of AI cities will be managed in five stages: foundation building, spatial cognition, intelligent collaboration, robot control, and autonomous city. Related research and development will also be promoted, including technologies for collecting and refining urban data and an AI agent platform that supports urban operations.
AI city infrastructure will also be built. To lay the groundwork for an AI city that connects data collection and analysis to on-site service delivery, the AI city infrastructure system will consist of an urban intelligence center (brain), a data pipeline (neural network), and physical AI and intelligent facilities (body). Existing urban operations facilities will be advanced into urban intelligence centers, focusing on the five hubs and three specialized zones. The "Smart + Building" initiative, which uses buildings as physical AI platforms, will also be expanded.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to create and operate AI-specialized pilot cities. In Wonju and Cheonan-Asan, it will build "test bed" pilot cities where the public builds AI infrastructure and private corporations develop and demonstrate services. In Saemangeum and Gwangju, it will pursue a "model city" approach that reflects AI and robotics technologies from the urban design stage based on proactive corporate investment.
In particular, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will also foster a regional industrial ecosystem in which local governments, corporations, and universities participate in commercializing AI services and training talent together. It will operate an "AI and Smart City solution market" that connects local governments with AI solution corporations, and push to export the K-AI City platform, which bundles urban infrastructure and AI services, overseas. The existing K-City Network project will also be expanded with a focus on AI cities.
A legal foundation for AI-specialized cities will also be established. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) will amend the "Smart City Act" to the "Artificial Intelligence and Smart City Act," newly defining core concepts such as artificial intelligence cities and urban data, and will create a basis for designating and supporting AI-specialized pilot cities and for regulatory exemptions. It will also introduce urban operations rules and a planned regulatory sandbox for AI risk response, data management, and citizen acceptance.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) aims to complete related legislation and revisions by 2027 and to deliver tangible results by 2030, such as creating AI-specialized pilot cities.
Minister Kim Yun-duk of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "The success or failure of K-AI City depends on having the foundation for technology to work properly in cities and on how much it makes people's lives more convenient and safer," and added, "Through this implementation strategy, we will realize a people-centered AI city where technology is not the end in itself, and ensure that everyone can feel in daily life the changes that AI brings as it connects the city."