'National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum' Held in Gwangju

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The National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum was held in Gwangju on the 6th. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties gathered at this event and raised their voices in support of actively promoting AI legislation and budget support in Gwangju.
[Photo by Gwangju City]

Ruling and opposition lawmakers gathered to discuss the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry in Gwangju.

With promises to secure national funding for the second phase of Gwangju's AI project, the AI Transformation (AX) Demonstration Valley, as well as to legislate related laws, the AI industry in Gwangju is expected to accelerate.

Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Gi-jung) announced on the 6th that the "National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum Gwangju Regional Meeting" was held at the city hall's medium conference room.

The National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Forum) is a forum aimed at implementing legislation and policies to resolve regional disparities and promote balanced regional development in South Korea. It includes 45 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, chairpersons of four major local councils, and ministers from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of SMEs and Startups, totaling 57 participants.

This meeting was the second regional meeting following the launch ceremony of the second term of the Forum in June and the Gyeongbuk regional meeting in July. It was held to establish legislative and budget strategies tailored to Gwangju as the regular National Assembly session began.

The meeting featured presentations and discussions under the theme "AI for All, Our Tasks for Advancing to the Top 3 AI Powers - Centered on Gwangju, South Korea's Representative AI City."

Attendees included 14 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, such as Park Sung-min (People Power Party, Ulsan Jung-gu), co-chair of the Forum, Lee Won-taek (Democratic Party, Jeonbuk Gunsan, Gimje, Buan), Jeon Jin-sook (Democratic Party, Gwangju Buk-gu), Jo In-cheol (Democratic Party, Gwangju Seo-gu Gap), Ahn Do-gul (Democratic Party, Gwangju Dong-gu Nam-gu), Min Hyung-bae (Democratic Party, Gwangju Gwangsan-gu), along with Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung, Gwangju City Council Chairperson Shin Su-jeong, and Song Sang-hoon, Director of the Information and Communication Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, totaling about 20 participants.

Oh Sang-jin, head of the AI Industry Convergence Project Group, stated, "Gwangju strategically chose AI and invested proactively, resulting in the establishment of core infrastructure such as the national AI data center for AI technology development and demonstration."

Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on topics including "Trends in AI development and the status of Gwangju AI cluster projects" and "Institutional support needs such as R&D for fostering the AI industry and Gwangju AI cluster."

They especially concluded the forum by announcing the "National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum Gwangju Joint Declaration." The declaration included ▲ swift procedural promotion and support for securing next year's national budget for the AI Transformation (AX) Demonstration Valley project ▲ enactment of the AI Industry Promotion Act to advance South Korea as a top 3 AI power ▲ legislation to exempt preliminary feasibility studies for R&D projects in advanced fields such as AI.

In his welcoming remarks, Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung said, "It is a great encouragement that lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties have agreed to actively support the budget and legislation for Gwangju's AI Demonstration Valley project," adding, "With the support from the National Assembly and government, we will make Gwangju the AI Silicon Valley of South Korea."

Park Sung-min, co-chair of the National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum, promised, "I believe that holding consecutive regional meetings in Gyeongbuk and then Gwangju after launching the second term of the Forum symbolizes our forum itself. At this meeting, we discussed various legislative and policy tasks for Gwangju's development and will carefully manage support tasks in the National Assembly to develop Gwangju as an AI city."