President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Presidential Committee on AI (PCAI) held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of presidential office

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has pledged to position Korea among the world's top three artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouses by 2027, the president announced Thursday.

This vision was announced during the inauguration ceremony of the Presidential Committee on AI (PCAI) held earlier in the day at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. The venue is notable for hosting the historic match between Korean Go master Lee Se-dol and Google's DeepMind-powered AlphaGo eight years ago.

"In the eight years since that historic match, AI has advanced remarkably, becoming a true game-changer. We are now witnessing a significant civilizational shift, with AI fundamentally transforming human life. The future and destiny of a country will hinge on whether it leads this change or follows from behind," Yoon said during the inauguration ceremony of the PCAI in Seoul.

"Currently, globally leading AI powerhouses, assessed by experts, are the U.S., China, Singapore, France, the U.K., and Korea. If we put in more effort, it is not impossible for us to break into the ranks of the top three AI powerhouses. And it is a challenge worth pursuing," Yoon added.

The president plans to lead the PCAI personally by chairing the committee, which will include 30 civilian AI experts and 10 government officials at the ministerial level, to concentrate the country's capabilities in AI development. This plan to establish the PCAI under his direct supervision was revealed during the announcement of the administration's AI-Semiconductor Initiative in April.

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Presidential Committee on AI (PCAI) held at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of presidential office

Under the slogan "Transformative Leap of Republic of Korea," the PCAI will act as the central body for establishing a national AI policy, and presenting the national AI vision and blueprint to the public. Yoon vowed to overhaul regulations on copyright and personal data protection to ensure they do not hinder innovation, while still upholding their core values.

"We will establish meticulous strategies and thoroughly implement them in all areas, including research and development, infrastructure, and legal systems," Yoon emphasized.

The president also warned of the negative side effects of AI's rapid development, stating: "Fake news produced through AI technology is threatening our democracy. Recently, there have also been frequent instances where deepfake technology has been misused to violate human rights."

Yoon went on to ensure that "the Korean government is demonstrating global leadership by working in solidarity with the international community to address these issues."

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Specifically, the Yoon administration announced four major flagship projects as part of its core nationwide AI initiative. These include: expanding national AI computing infrastructure; significantly increasing private sector investments in AI; implementing a full-scale national AI transformation, referred to as AX; and securing global leadership in AI safety and security.

First, to strengthen the country's computing infrastructure, the government plans to establish about two centers with a budget of 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion), aiming to expand the capacity of its latest GPUs to 15 times the current scale.

In the private sector, a total of 65 trillion won will be invested in AI by 2027. To encourage these investments, the government will provide active support through tax incentives and other measures.

Moreover, to balance AI development with safety and trust, the government plans to establish an AI Safety Research Institute in November and promote the enactment of a basic AI law by the end of the year. These efforts aim to further strengthen Korea's global leadership in AI.

Yoon also highlighted the establishment of the "Korea-U.S. AI Working Group" and the opening of the "Global AI Frontier Lab" for joint research and development between Korea and the U.S. as the achievements of the recent summit.

People Power Party (PPP) floor leader Choo kyung-ho, second from left, speaks during a consultative meeting between the ruling party and the government held at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Earlier in the day, the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the government gathered to discuss measures for nurturing scientific and technological talent to revitalize the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

"According to the OECD, the contribution of scientific talent leaving Korea to global scientific journals in 2022 was 1.69 points, whereas the contribution of talent coming into Korea was only 1.41 points," the ruling conservative party's floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said, emphasizing the need for the concerted efforts by the government and the party to support top-tier scientific talent as a key strategy to prepare for the future.

"There is a grim forecast that by around 2050, the number of students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees in STEM will drop from the current 120,000 to about 50,000, more than halving," Rep. Kim Sang-hoon, chairman of the People's Power Policy Committee, said.

Aiming to address these issues, the ruling party and the government discussed a wide variety of support measures, including an active stipend program — under which master's students will receive a monthly research stipend of 800,000 won, and doctoral students will receive 1.1 million won, in addition to the existing science and research scholarships — as well as a new scholarship program, offering 5 million won annually to 1,000 master's students in the STEM field.

Measures to support female scientists facing career interruptions were also discussed, including plans to extend reduced working hours and expand the discretionary working system to better support work-life balance.

To realize these initiatives, the ruling party and government agreed to work on expanding the necessary budget during next year's review of fiscal expenditures and will also promote the enactment of a law aimed at modernizing research administration services.