[Robert J. Fouser] South Korea's AI goals

Korea Herald

6 hours ago

New presidents in South Korea stir a wave of new policies and big national goals. As the country has developed, new presidents have shifted away from big national goals in favor of a longer list of policy initiatives. President Lee Jae Myung's all-out push to improve AI competitiveness represents a shift back to big goals. The president aims to make South Korea one of the top three most competitive nations in AI by the end of his term in 2030.
Like many previous big goals, this is ambitious but achievable with focus and drive. National AI competitiveness is difficult to rank because the data informing the rankings changes so fast. Several rankings, however, show why the president's goal is achievable. The 'Global AI Index' by Tortoise Media and the 'Global Vibrancy Tool' by Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI use data from 2023 and 2024 but offer interesting insight.
According to both surveys, the US is far in the lead, with China a respectable second. In the 'Global AI Index,' South Korea is sixth, with Singapore, the UK and France sitting between it and the top two. South Korea comes seventh in the 'Global Vibrancy Tool,' with the UK, India, the United Arab Emirates and France sitting above it. In both rankings, South Korea ranks higher than traditional industrial and engineering powerhouses like Germany and Japan. Among countries with a population over 50 million, South Korea ranks fifth after the US, China, the UK and France. Among these populous countries, it is the only country that uses a language with limited geographic spread.
South Korea is clearly an AI powerhouse. Indeed, it has continued to improve its standing in the two rankings. In the first 'Global AI Index,' which came out in 2022, the country ranked eighth. In the first 'Global Vibrancy Tool,' which came out (way back) in 2017, it ranked 14th. The trajectory has been steadily upward.
President Lee's goal of moving it up several notches to third place is clearly attainable. Most nations ranking around or below South Korea are also focusing on AI competitiveness, which means that the country has to work to keep its current position while aiming higher.
What can it do? Among the seven categories comprising the 'Global AI Index,' South Korea ranks lowest, at 35th, for 'operating environment,' which focuses on the regulatory environment and public opinion. Its next lowest ranking is 13th in the 'talent' and 'research' categories, which cover the availability of AI-related talent. In the eight categories of the 'Global Vibrancy Tool,' South Korea ranks lowest in education, at 18th out of 36 nations. Its other low-ranking categories are 'responsible AI,' 'economy' and 'diversity.'
Results from the two rankings are similar in highlighting the need to foster and attract AI talent, from research to implementation. The market for AI talent is global and becoming increasingly competitive. To compete, South Korean companies need to retain top domestic talent while attracting talent from abroad. This will cost money and require efforts to increase openness in corporate culture. At the same time, South Korea needs to direct more of its formidable R&D budget to AI and related fields. At present, the country ranks second in the world, between Israel and the US, in the percentage of gross domestic product spent on R&D.
The two rankings diverge when it comes to the regulatory environment, but both were developed before the passage of the Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Creation of a Trust Base (Basic AI Act) in December 2024. The legislation, which is set to take effect in January 2026, was designed to provide a unified legal framework for the development, regulation, and ethical oversight of artificial intelligence technologies. South Korea is the second country after the EU to adopt a comprehensive AI law. Unlike the EU's AI Act, it does not impose detailed technical regulations directly, but empowers ministries, particularly the Ministry of Science and ICT, to work out the details as conditions change. If done well, this should help develop and maintain public trust without hurting innovation and competitiveness.
Finally, South Korea's demographic crisis could work in its favor as the country adopts AI to fill gaps in a shrinking workforce. Increasingly, businesses are turning to AI to make up for a lack of workers rather than cost-cutting. Such needs will only continue to grow, which will help propel the country into the lead in developing practical applications of AI for others to adopt.
Robert J. Fouser, a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul National University, writes on Korea from Providence, Rhode Island. He can be reached at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are the writer's own. -- Ed.