Top AI Official: South Korea Eyes AI Leadership in Asia, Unveiling Action Plan Next Month
Top AI Official: South Korea Eyes AI Leadership in Asia, Unveiling Action Plan Next Month
On October 28, 2025, during the APEC CEO Summit, Hajung Woo, Senior Presidential Secretary for AI Future Strategy, announced that South Korea is actively investing to become not just an AI powerhouse, but also the AI capital of Asia. This signifies South Korea's vision to become the center of AI technology innovation in the Asian region, going beyond simply being a leading AI technology nation. Secretary Woo's remarks are expected to play a crucial role in internationally promoting South Korea's AI technological competitiveness and attracting investment. In particular, with the growing importance of AI technology in Asia, South Korea's consolidation of its position as an AI capital is projected to significantly enhance its economic growth and international standing.
At the Future Tech Forum of the APEC CEO Summit AI sector, Secretary Woo presented South Korea's AI strategy in detail, outlining the current state of AI technology development and future vision. He emphasized that South Korea's AI model capabilities rank third in the world, following the United States and China, reaffirming the high competitiveness of South Korean AI technology. This is an important indicator showing that South Korea occupies a leading position in the AI field and suggests the possibility of further development through continuous investment and research and development. Furthermore, Secretary Woo revealed that BlackRock has decided to invest in South Korean AI and renewable energy infrastructure, demonstrating international confidence in the growth potential of the South Korean AI industry. BlackRock's investment is expected to further strengthen the domestic AI industry ecosystem and promote related technology development.
Secretary Woo stated that the government plans to announce its AI action plan around the end of next month. This action plan contains specific implementation plans for South Korea to become the AI capital of Asia and is expected to present policy directions in various fields, including AI technology development, talent cultivation, and industrial ecosystem creation. In particular, the AI action plan is expected to play an important role in strengthening cooperation between the private sector and the government and accelerating AI technology innovation. The action plan is also expected to include considerations of ethical issues and social impacts of AI technology, which will contribute to ensuring that AI technology has a positive impact on society as a whole.
Secretary Woo emphasized that South Korea will expand specialized AI technologies in manufacturing and bio, areas where it has strengths, and will also increase investment in future technology fields such as artificial general intelligence (AGI), semiconductors, physical AI, scientific AI, and defense/cultural AI. This demonstrates South Korea's strategy to expand its AI technology capabilities concentrated in specific areas into diverse fields and to preempt core technologies needed for the future era. AI technology specialized in manufacturing and bio can bring innovation in various fields such as productivity improvement, quality improvement, and new drug development, and investment in future technology fields such as AGI, semiconductors, and physical AI is expected to play an important role in South Korea's continued maintenance of AI technology competitiveness and leadership in future society. In particular, investment in the defense and cultural AI fields is expected to contribute to strengthening national security and developing the cultural industry.
