Lee turns to technocrats as Korea pushes for AI leadership
Experts say Bae Kyung-hoon's nomination reflects urgency, realism in Korea's AI policy shift
President Lee Jae Myung sent a clear signal Monday that South Korea is going all-in on artificial intelligence, tapping AI expert Bae Kyung-hoon, chief of LG AI Research, as the new science minister to spearhead the country's AI initiative.
Monday's nomination came on the heels of another high-profile pick from the private sector. On June 15, Ha Jung-woo, the head of Naver AI Innovation Center, was appointed as the first senior secretary of AI and future planning. The newly established post is tasked with leading the country's investments and policies for AI infrastructure.
Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik explained that the president appointed the 49-year-old AI strategist to help propel Korea into the ranks of the world's top three AI powerhouses. 'We expect Bae to strengthen AI competitiveness alongside Ha Jung-woo,' said Kang.
Bringing in top experts from Korea's tech giants LG and Naver highlights how serious the Lee administration is about making Korea a global AI leader. Lee has announced plans to invest over 100 trillion won ($72.29 billion) in public-private funds to push the AI industry forward.
'With both Ha and Bae on board, it is clear that the Lee administration's focus is on AI,' said Hwang Yong-sik, a professor at Sejong University College of Business and Economics. 'There is a growing recognition that relying solely on the public sector for AI development has its limitations. The industry needs both the government and the private sector. While the government can lead, AI advancement is not possible without support from the private sector, hence the appointment of experts from companies.'
Bae's career spans startups and South Korea's largest corporations, including Samsung, SK and LG. In 2006, he worked as a senior researcher at Samsung Thales, a joint venture between now-defunct Samsung Techwin and French firm Thales. From 2011 to 2016, he was at SK Telecom's future technology R&D center
Bae joined LG Group in 2016 as an AI expert, taking on various AI roles at LG Economic Research Institute, LG Uplus and LG Science Park. In 2020, he became the founding president of LG AI Research, the conglomerate's dedicated AI think tank.
Under Bae's leadership, LG AI Research developed the hyperscale language model Exaone in 2021, commercialized it in 2023, and released its third version as open source in 2024. Most recently, his team unveiled Korea's first interference AI model, Exaone Deep, in March.
In addition to his corporate leadership, Bae has also served in key government advisory roles related to AI governance and privacy.
Not many people in Korea have such deep experience and expertise in the still relatively nascent industry as Bae, said Choi Byung-ho, a professor at Korea University's Human-inspired AI Research Lab.
'In Korea, only a handful of people in the field can handle the frontier model from start to finish, and Bae is one of them," said Choi.
Choi stressed the urgency of AI development in Korea. 'We are in a race against time, and speed matters more than ever," he said. "Decision-making has to be fast and precise. We can't afford to put a generalist or bureaucrat in that role. Only experts with real field experience are what's needed.'
Once the parliament gives the green light, Bae will be in charge of the Ministry of Science and ICT and oversee the country's science and digital infrastructure policies. He and Ha will work closely to develop national strategies and coordinate interagency efforts to execute AI policies.
Both strongly advocate developing homegrown AI models using domestic infrastructure, data and expertise. Their appointments are expected to inject fresh momentum into the administration's push for sovereign AI.
At a National Assembly hearing earlier this year, Bae warned that not developing a sovereign AI foundation model would be akin to 'forfeiting national strategic assets,' calling for a strategic approach.
Going forward, when asked what is most important at the government level to accelerate AI development and build a Korean model, experts consistently point to infrastructure, which includes data centers, energy systems, supercomputers, graphics processing units, software and data resources.
'Infrastructure is the foundation, and Korea doesn't have the infrastructure it needs,' said Choi. 'At a time when frontier models evolve into global models, Korea needs more infrastructure to make a global model. This is a period of explosive growth. AI develops week to week. Both short-term and long-term strategies need to happen in parallel.'
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