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Korea Herald
30-07-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Will US' push undermine Korea's AI sovereignty drive?
Trump's AI action plan sparks concerns of US dominance, threatening Seoul's W240b efforts to build independent AI infrastructure As US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week unveiling an 'AI action plan' to maintain America's dominance in artificial intelligence, concerns are rising that the move could undermine South Korea's ambitions to build its sovereign AI ecosystem. According to industry sources on Wednesday, the Trump administration's plan, signed on July 23, triggered a rapid response from China, which announced its own global AI governance initiative just three days later. At the heart of the US plan is a push to develop and export a full-stack AI package — including high-performance GPUs, servers, software and foundation models — designed to encourage or "ensure" allied nations adopt US AI technologies and standards. Korean experts warn that this could pose a serious challenge to Seoul's sovereign AI strategy, which centers on developing a national foundation model capable of achieving at least 95 percent of the performance of global leading models. The Lee Jae Myung administration is currently conducting a competitive selection process to identify 'national representative AI teams,' with up to 240 billion won ($173 million) in funding allocated for the winners. A recent report by the Korea AI Software Industry Association (KOSA) assessed that 'the US AI action plan could become an obstacle to Korea's AI self-reliance,' citing the risk of domestic firms being relegated to downstream roles, such as app development, within a US-centric AI platform structure. 'If key AI models and platforms are controlled by the US, Korean companies may find themselves merely feeding applications into foreign ecosystems,' the KOSA report read. In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT said accelerating the development of domestic foundation models and securing key resources such as AI talent and GPU computing power are vital countermeasures to the evolving global landscape. 'Completing our sovereign AI ecosystem as swiftly as possible is the best defense,' a ministry official said. 'We will fine-tune our strategy based on the capabilities of the selected national AI teams.' President Trump's recent remarks emphasizing the easing of regulations on AI are also expected to have an impact on Korea's implementation of its AI Framework Act. Korea became the second country in the world, following the European Union, to pass a comprehensive AI law, which is set to go into effect next year. While some industry insiders say that Korean startups could benefit from narrowing the tech gap by leveraging open-source models promoted by the US, they also caution that such dependency could leave Korea vulnerable to future geopolitical and technological shifts. 'One cannot deny the efficiency of utilizing some US technologies,' said an industry source who requested anonymity. 'But to avoid external vulnerabilities, Korea must acquire the full spectrum of capabilities required for AI sovereignty — from models to infrastructure and platforms. Striking a balance between national independence and global collaboration will be the key to Korea's future AI policy.' Experts also stress the importance of diplomatic finesse in minimizing potential conflicts around AI governance while safeguarding Korea's technological sovereignty. 'A two-track strategy may be necessary,' said Lee Jae-sung, professor of the Department of AI at Chung-Ang University. 'In the early stages, actively using open-source tools can help close the gap with big tech. Over the long term, however, we need to transition to domestic solutions and build an independent AI base.'
Korea Herald
30-07-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Korea's AI sovereignty hopes face test under new US push
Trump's AI action plan sparks concerns of US dominance, threatening Seoul's W240b efforts to build independent AI infrastructure As US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week unveiling an 'AI action plan' to maintain America's dominance in artificial intelligence, concerns are rising that the move could undermine South Korea's ambitions to build its sovereign AI ecosystem. According to industry sources on Wednesday, the Trump administration's plan, signed on July 23, triggered a rapid response from China, which announced its own global AI governance initiative just three days later. At the heart of the US plan is a push to develop and export a full-stack AI package — including high-performance GPUs, servers, software and foundation models — designed to encourage or "ensure" allied nations adopt US AI technologies and standards. Korean experts warn that this could pose a serious challenge to Seoul's sovereign AI strategy, which centers on developing a national foundation model capable of achieving at least 95 percent of the performance of global leading models. The Lee Jae Myung administration is currently conducting a competitive selection process to identify 'national representative AI teams,' with up to 240 billion won ($173 million) in funding allocated for the winners. A recent report by the Korea AI Software Industry Association (KOSA) assessed that 'the US AI action plan could become an obstacle to Korea's AI self-reliance,' citing the risk of domestic firms being relegated to downstream roles, such as app development, within a US-centric AI platform structure. 'If key AI models and platforms are controlled by the US, Korean companies may find themselves merely feeding applications into foreign ecosystems,' the KOSA report read. In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT said accelerating the development of domestic foundation models and securing key resources such as AI talent and GPU computing power are vital countermeasures to the evolving global landscape. 'Completing our sovereign AI ecosystem as swiftly as possible is the best defense,' a ministry official said. 'We will fine-tune our strategy based on the capabilities of the selected national AI teams.' President Trump's recent remarks emphasizing the easing of regulations on AI are also expected to have an impact on Korea's implementation of its AI Framework Act. Korea became the second country in the world, following the European Union, to pass a comprehensive AI law, which is set to go into effect next year. While some industry insiders say that Korean startups could benefit from narrowing the tech gap by leveraging open-source models promoted by the US, they also caution that such dependency could leave Korea vulnerable to future geopolitical and technological shifts. 'One cannot deny the efficiency of utilizing some US technologies,' said an industry source who requested anonymity. 'But to avoid external vulnerabilities, Korea must acquire the full spectrum of capabilities required for AI sovereignty — from models to infrastructure and platforms. Striking a balance between national independence and global collaboration will be the key to Korea's future AI policy.' Experts also stress the importance of diplomatic finesse in minimizing potential conflicts around AI governance while safeguarding Korea's technological sovereignty. 'A two-track strategy may be necessary,' said Lee Jae-sung, professor of the Department of AI at Chung-Ang University. 'In the early stages, actively using open-source tools can help close the gap with big tech. Over the long term, however, we need to transition to domestic solutions and build an independent AI base.'
Korea Herald
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Video games must clarify AI use, according to new law
Even partial use of artificial intelligence must be disclosed, though precise application up for interpretation A new law on the regulation of artificial intelligence mandates clear disclosure of AI use in a wide variety of products, including video games, a field where AI has played an integral role since its very inception. Rep. Kang Yu-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea said Tuesday that the National Assembly Research Service's reply on her inquisition suggested that video games are subject to the AI Framework Act, which is set to take effect in January next year. As such, video game developers that used AI in development must notify users that their product is based on artificial intelligence, and they must implement a risk assessment and management system. Video games have been actively using AI to control numerous interactive elements to improve the player experience since its primitive stage, ranging from gradual adjustment of difficulty levels to movement patterns of nonplayer characters. Some video games more recently have adopted conversational AI for dynamic storytelling, such as Uncover the Smoking Gun, published in 2024. Public disclosure of AI use is not confined to games actively using AI in the gameplay experience, but also includes those that use AI-generated images, sounds or 3D models. The new act stipulates that even partial AI use of a product must be disclosed, including for creative content. "Video games that used an AI model partially to create text, images, sound or video can be considered an AI product, and its publisher can be regarded to be in the AI industry," the parliamentary think tank was quoted as saying. The National Assembly Research Service added that application of the new law may differ depending on how much generative AI has been used and how much human contributions factor into the product. Creative industry struggling to find balance between AI, human input "With the rapidly increasing application of AI in games, the boundary (between the AI and) creative realm such as sound and images is tumbling. ... As the concerns of existing creators and hopes of industry clashes, there need to be policies that protect the rights (of creators) while promoting the industry," Rep. Kang said. The Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Creation of a Foundation for Trust was passed by the National Assembly in December and enacted in January. It is to provide legal guidelines for AI use in the creative industry, which has been quick to adopt the technology in music, movies, cartoons and other products. The local creative industry has been mulling adoptive measures in the increasingly wide use of AI for making what had previously been considered products of pure human imagination. The Korea Music Copyright Association recently implemented a procedure that requires songwriters to verify that they did not use AI at all in writing their songs, in response to possible legal issues related to AI-generated songs. Its stance is that AI-created songs cannot be copyrighted.
