[Yoo Choon-sik] Vacancies at heart of Korea’s artificial intelligence policy

Despite taking office without a proper preparation period, the Lee Jae Myung administration has achieved remarkable results in several areas that none of its predecessors managed to accomplish within such a short period. At the center of those achievements has been a narrative surrounding artificial intelligence

One example is the surge in exports by South Korean manufacturers of semiconductors and other hardware related to the AI sector as global competition to secure an advantage in AI innovation has continued to accelerate

The government correctly recognized that active participation in the global AI race was the only way for South Korea to overcome many of the structural problems it is already facing. President Lee declared that AI policy would remain at the center of state affairs

In this respect, the Lee administration was able to win broad public support, and the AI policies it subsequently announced were generally welcomed. In particular, the government not only retained the existing Presidential Committee on AI, but also strengthened it while renaming it the Presidential Council on National AI Strategy

The president appointed a figure with experience in the information technology industry and digital policymaking as the standing vice chair of the NAIS, effectively its most powerful position. Earlier, Lee had demonstrated his commitment to AI policy by creating the position of senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning and appointing an AI expert at Naver to the position

At an event in September last year, Lee said, “Advanced technologies such as AI represent national strength and economic power, and ultimately national security capabilities as well.”

He went on to declare to the world that the NAIS would serve as South Korea’s highest command center in its effort to become one of the world’s top three AI powerhouses

The council’s status was strengthened compared with that under the previous administration because it was granted the authority not only to review and coordinate AI-related policies across government ministries and the nation as a whole but also to make decisions at the strategic level

The appointments of Lim Mun-yeong as the standing vice chair of the NAIS and Ha Jung-woo as senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning drew attention at home and abroad. They were received positively as evidence of Lee’s genuine intention to place experts in important positions

Yet early this year, less than a year after the two officials had assumed the most important positions in South Korea’s AI policy establishment, both stepped down almost as though by prior arrangement

The fact that they decided at the same time to leave the two most important positions in AI policy could be regarded as just a coincidence. However, since the parliamentary by-elections in early June 2026 were already foreseeable when they accepted their appointments, the real issue is not their resignations but their original appointments

It is difficult to understand why they resigned to pursue personal political ambitions only a few months after assuming such important positions

If the ruling party had been two seats short of a parliamentary majority and had faced serious obstacles in running the country, it might have been difficult to deny the importance of the two officials entering the by-elections. But that was not the reality at any time after Lee took office in June last year

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has consistently held an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly. In practice, there has been no case in which the government was unable to pursue desired legislation because it lacked sufficient seats

That is precisely why it is problematic that the two officials holding the most important positions in national AI policy resigned only a few months after taking office in order to run in elections. The larger problem concerns the silence on the part of the president since then on these issues

In a country that aims to become a global AI power, the two officials responsible for that very policy left office at the same time. The government has still provided the public with no guidance on who is performing their duties, how their successors will be selected or when they will be appointed

Many important developments have taken place in AI this year, but two examples alone show clearly that competition for AI innovation is becoming sharper rather than less intense. The first is the shock surrounding Anthropic’s Mythos AI system, and the second is the South Korean government’s controversial announcement of a large new memory semiconductor cluster

Major developments surrounding the race for AI innovation continue to unfold. Under these circumstances, leaving the two most important positions vacant for reasons that are difficult to understand is no small matter. The situation has become even more confusing amid media reports that Ha may be appointed the standing vice chair of the NAIS

During a period in which events capable of influencing the country’s future in AI were unfolding, the two most important AI positions were vacant at the same time. More serious than the vacancies themselves are the process by which the positions became vacant, the prolonged failure to fill them and the absence of any visible plan for doing so

Only a few months before the two officials left their posts almost simultaneously, Lee said that “as the world enters a great transition marked by unlimited competition in science and technology, competition among countries to secure leadership in advanced technologies is becoming increasingly intense.”

Referring to AI, he added that “if we stay half a step ahead, we will become a leader able to enjoy limitless opportunities, but if we fall behind, we will remain a follower forever.” One can only hope that action will follow before the public loses faith that the government’s determination will amount to more than words

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Yoo Choon-sik

Yoo Choon-sik worked for nearly 30 years at Reuters, including as chief Korea economics correspondent, and briefly as a business strategy consultant. The views expressed here are the writer’s own

khnews@heraldcorp.com