Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun met with Han Seong-sook, CEO of Naver, and Yeo Min-soo, co-CEO of Kakao, on the 12th at the Prime Minister's official residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The heads of South Korea's two major portals met with Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun to emphasize the importance of nurturing talent in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.
Han Seong-sook and Yeo Min-soo: "We Must Develop Data Talent"
Han Seong-sook, CEO of Naver, and Yeo Min-soo, co-CEO of Kakao, expressed concerns about the domestic shortage of talent in response to questions about proposals to enhance competitiveness in the AI industry during the "Thursday Dialogue" held at the Prime Minister's residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 12th.
CEO Han said, "Not to mention the United States, when you look at the scale of data analysis personnel at China's Alibaba, the difference compared to the entire country of South Korea is so significant that it is serious," emphasizing, "How to rapidly cultivate talent is important."
She continued, "Looking at domestic universities, the metropolitan area has limited admission quotas, and science graduate schools have only a few dozen students. In the U.S., hundreds or thousands are being trained," explaining, "From a corporate competitiveness perspective, securing talent is crucial, but even if we want to hire, there are no developers available."
Co-CEO Yeo also stated that data experts are necessary for further development of the AI industry.
Yeo said, "There is a lot of data. Equipment for analysis can also be purchased with money," adding, "To reach a level where we can more efficiently assist tasks performed by humans, we need people who understand, process, analyze, and apply data."
He added, "This is still an area where AI cannot perform well and remains vulnerable," expressing concern that "if we do not reinforce the workforce, it could become a very difficult situation."
Regarding data collection, Yeo explained, "For AI to become smarter, the volume of data needs to be more extensive," while noting, "We respect the principle of minimum collection, but by global standards, China collects data most freely."
Yeo added, "In competing with global platforms like Google and Facebook, domestic platforms comply with domestic laws, but it is necessary to examine whether global platforms operate under the same rules," which is interpreted as a remark expressing concern about unfair disadvantages compared to foreign companies that are less proactive in complying with domestic laws.
Naver and Kakao Building Data Centers
CEO Han and Co-CEO Yeo also revealed the data center visions of Naver and Kakao.
CEO Han explained, "Globally, data is called the 'new oil,' and Naver, having operated search services for a long time, understands the importance of data better than any other company," adding, "We built a data center in Chuncheon in 2013 to store data, and recently, we are constructing a hyperscale (a massive data center capable of operating over 100,000 servers) cloud data center in Sejong City."
She continued, "Investing 650 billion won to build a large data center is because overseas companies like Amazon and Google are rapidly entering the domestic market and preparing seriously for the cloud industry, so domestic companies need to secure competitiveness," she added.
CEO Han said, "New entrepreneurial opportunities are opening through data," noting, "Until now, only large companies with abundant data could start businesses, but based on data analyzed by Naver, small and medium-sized businesses can now start directly through Smart Store."
She added, "Naver's role is to securely store data and ensure there are no issues related to personal information so that everyone can have the opportunity to utilize it commercially."
CEO Han emphasized the need for clear definitions and guidelines regarding personal information. She pointed out, "Naver plans to offer data in a sandbox format this year, but due to existing laws, researchers sometimes cannot use the information," adding, "We will first disclose and test it with startups and researchers and negotiate, but clearer guidelines on personal information need to be defined to accelerate industry movement."
Co-CEO Yeo spoke about the Hanyang University Ansan Campus data center, saying, "It will house 120,000 servers, which is equivalent to storing 6.4 billion movies," and explained, "Through Kakao's AI technology collection, 'Kakao i Engine' and 'i Cloud,' we are preparing projects to enable not only private companies but also government agencies to transition to a cloud system."
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