Jung In-gyo, Head of Trade Headquarters, "If AI International Standards Are Not Unified, Trade Barriers... A Major Challenge for Companies"

Welcome Speech at Seoul's 'AI International Standardization General Assembly' on the 22nd
"Public-Private Cooperation of World-Class AI Semiconductors by Samsung, SK, and Others"

Jung In-kyo, Head of the Trade Negotiation Headquarters at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, warned on the 22nd, "AI regulatory laws, which are set differently by each country, could act as future trade and technology barriers, posing a significant challenge to governments and companies in other countries."

On the 22nd, Jeong In-kyo, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, delivered a welcoming speech at the 'International AI Standardization General Assembly' held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Jung-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Moon Chae-seok]

On the same day, Jung made these remarks in a welcoming speech at the 'AI International Standardization General Assembly (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC42)' held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The event is scheduled to run for five days from that day until the 26th. It was jointly hosted by the National Institute of Technology and Standards under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). On this day, over 270 experts from more than 40 countries, including AI specialists from Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung Electronics, and Naver Cloud, attended.

Jung said, "Since the emergence of generative AI, demand for AI technology has surged, exerting enormous influence across all industrial sectors such as 'semiconductors' and 'electric power.'" He added, "Controversies over discrimination generated by AI and the spread of false information could threaten democracy, so each country is preparing regulatory measures tailored to their own circumstances."

He stated, "Korea plans to establish a 'National AI Committee' chaired directly by the President to promote public-private cooperation in the AI semiconductor sector," and "standards will also be incorporated into the 'New Industrial Policy for the AI Era' aimed at AI convergence and innovation across all industries."

He continued, "Korea is deeply interested in participating in AI international standardization and plans to play an active role in the international standard discussion process."

Wael William Diab, Chair of ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 42 (left), and Benko, SC 42 Committee Manager, are speaking at the 'AI International Standardization General Assembly' on the 22nd.
[Photo by Moon Chaeseok]

ISO/IEC executives and AI experts from various companies attending the event anticipated that the AI International Standardization General Assembly would have a positive impact on easing overlapping regulations in high power-consuming industries such as semiconductors.

Heather Benko, Deputy Director of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and SC 42 Committee Manager, who was met at the venue, said, "The Seoul General Assembly led by SC 42, the largest international standards committee covering the entire AI ecosystem, will serve as a platform to gather opinions from various countries."

Nobuhiro Hosokawa, AI Quality Engineer (Manager) at IBM Research Japan, said, "The AI Seoul General Assembly is an opportunity to consider not only international standards but also AI PC business ideas."

Park Sung-jin, Senior Engineer of the Technology Strategy Team at Samsung Research, Samsung Electronics’ advanced R&D organization, said, "I understand that this general assembly is a place where ISO and IEC executives lead discussions rather than AI experts," adding, "I plan to review international standard trends."