[Exclusive] Lee Jae-myung to Remain as Party AI Powerhouse Committee Chair... Focuses on Artificial Intelligence Policy

Lee to Remain as Chairman of AI Power Committee After Stepping Down as Party Leader
Seen as a Move to Lead the 'AI Policy' Agenda
Planning AI Pledges Including Government-Led LLM Development

Lee Jae-myung, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has decided to retain his position as chairman of the AI Power Committee (AI Ganggukwi), which he chaired during his tenure as party leader. As AI issues are expected to become a major agenda in the upcoming early presidential election, this is interpreted as a strategy to maintain his grip on AI policies that he has been promoting while serving as party leader.

Yonhap News

According to the Democratic Party on the 15th, it has been confirmed that former leader Lee will keep his position as chairman of the AI Power Committee, an ad hoc special committee of the Democratic Party. The AI Power Committee, launched on the 7th of last month, is a committee established by the Democratic Party to develop policies related to AI and promote the industry. A key official of the AI Power Committee said, "Former leader Lee has decided to remain as chairman," adding, "It will be under his name as a member of the National Assembly."

This decision to retain the chairmanship is seen as reflecting former leader Lee’s strategy to firmly hold the AI agenda as a candidate running in the early presidential election. Internally, there were concerns about whether it was appropriate for former leader Lee to keep the AI Power Committee chairmanship after stepping down as party leader. Since Lee stepped down from the party leadership, Park Chan-dae, acting party leader and floor leader, has been handling party-related duties such as presiding over the Supreme Council.

Earlier, on the 14th, former leader Lee showed continued interest in AI policies by visiting AI semiconductor fabless company Puriosa AI as his first move after declaring his candidacy for the early presidential election. It is reported that Lee and Puriosa AI held a private meeting to discuss research and development (R&D) investment, human resource recruitment, and the government’s role in strengthening competitiveness in the AI field.

The AI Power Committee is also understood to be planning AI pledges including government-led large language model (LLM) development, where the government actively supports private companies. This is similar to the current administration’s ongoing 'World Best LLM' project. The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to recruit an elite AI team and provide full support for data and GPUs necessary for LLM development. The Policy Committee has also expressed that it will closely monitor AI-related policies discussed by the AI Power Committee.

Meanwhile, former leader Lee has pledged to support the AI industry with a budget of 100 trillion won and outlined a vision to make Korea one of the world’s top three AI powers. He has also announced plans to reorganize the National Artificial Intelligence Committee, a presidential advisory body, to strengthen its substance.