Government Announces Massive Investment Plan Including Presidential Office AI Policy Chief and 50,000 GPU Procurement
SEOUL= President Lee Jae-myung announced an ambitious plan to make South Korea one of the world’s top three artificial intelligence (AI) powers through a 100 trillion won public-private investment. The government said on the 21st that it would revolutionize AI infrastructure by securing 50,000 high-performance GPUs and establishing AI data centers nationwide.
Presidential Office-Centered AI Governance Structure
The government announced the establishment of an ‘AI Policy Chief’ position in the Presidential Office to ensure consistency in AI policy. The plan is to integrate AI policies that were previously distributed across various ministries under the Presidential Office for systematic implementation.
A Chief AI Officer (CAIO) will also be appointed to serve as the control tower for AI policy. The existing National AI Committee will expand its role from an advisory body to a substantial policy decision-making organization.
A government official explained, “AI is no longer the work of a specific ministry, but an era when the entire nation must be reorganized around AI,” adding that “having the Presidential Office directly oversee AI policy is an inevitable choice.”
Major AI Infrastructure Expansion with 100 Trillion Won Investment
The government announced plans to secure 50,000 high-performance GPUs through a 100 trillion won public-private partnership fund. This measure aims to create an environment where small and medium enterprises and startups can also conduct large-scale AI training.
The government also announced plans to systematically establish AI data centers by designating them as next-generation social overhead capital (SOC). This is interpreted as treating AI as national core infrastructure like roads or power grids.
The government also said it would create ‘AI Testbed Korea’ nationwide to provide an environment where AI technologies can be freely demonstrated. Regulatory special zones that allow free testing of AI technologies that were previously difficult to experiment with due to existing regulations will also be expanded nationwide.
Military Service Exemption Introduced for AI Talent Development
The government unveiled groundbreaking support measures to secure outstanding AI talent. It announced the introduction of ‘AI Military Service Exemption’ that grants military service exemptions to excellent AI talent. This expands exemptions that were previously applied only to certain professionals like doctors and lawyers to the AI field.
A new ‘AI College’ that specializes in AI research and education will also be established. ‘Korean-style STEM education’ that provides systematic AI education from elementary through high school levels will also be strengthened.
Plans were also announced to nurture professionals covering the entire process from AI chip design to manufacturing through the expansion of semiconductor graduate schools.
‘AI for All’ Project Provides Free Services
One of the government’s most innovative policies is the ‘AI for All’ project. The plan is to enable all citizens to use generative AI for free. Unlike current AI services like ChatGPT or Claude that operate on paid subscription models, this is a plan to create a free service directly provided by the state.
The government announced it would actively utilize public data for AI training and purchase large amounts of content from broadcasting companies to use as AI training data. This is expected to dramatically improve the quality of Korean-language AI models.
The government also said it would transform to an open R&D system that broadly includes private experts, academia, and policy specialists to create an innovation ecosystem.
Securing Technological Sovereignty Through National Representative LLM Development
The government also announced it would develop a national representative Large Language Model (LLM). Rather than English-centered AI like current ChatGPT or Claude, the plan is to create AI that deeply understands Korean language and culture.
The government revealed plans to serve as the center of the global Korean-language AI ecosystem by providing this as open source. It said it would transform to an open research and development system that broadly includes private experts, academia, and policy specialists to create an innovation ecosystem.
Experts: “Realistic Goals, Implementation Capacity is Key”
AI experts evaluated this policy as “ambitious but realistically achievable goals.” The analysis is that if Korea’s existing strengths in semiconductors, network infrastructure, and high education levels are combined with AI, it can sufficiently become a global AI powerhouse.
In particular, the fact that Samsung and SK Hynix dominate the global memory semiconductor market and that 5G network infrastructure is also world-class is evaluated as very advantageous for AI hardware foundations.
However, experts pointed out that policy sustainability and implementation capacity will be the keys to success. Since the massive investment of 100 trillion won cannot produce results in a short period, it must be consistently pursued from a long-term perspective.
Professor Kim, an AI expert, said, “It’s easy to think of Korea as a latecomer in AI, but based on semiconductors, 5G, and high education levels, it can sufficiently become an AI-leading nation,” adding that “creativity and cultural sensitivity proven through K-content will become core competitiveness in the AI era.”
The government said it expects South Korea to rank among the world’s top three AI powers, following the United States and China, if this AI policy succeeds.
