[BOK Focus] "Compare with Past Policies" on Tablets from Anywhere... Bank of Korea Marks 'First Year of AI' at Year-End

Project Budget of 13.7 Billion KRW for Network Separation Improvement Pilot Announced This Month
Pilot Application to Begin Around November... Work and Space Constraints Disappear with a Single PC
Bank of Korea AI to Launch by Year-End... Reducing Time on Simple, Repetitive Tasks for Advanced Operations

The Bank of Korea is marking the end of the year as the "first year of generative AI adoption." By utilizing generative AI tailored to its operations, the central bank aims to dramatically reduce the time spent on simple, repetitive tasks and those involving large volumes of data, while also expanding the scope of its work. The constraints of the physical workspace will also be eliminated. Instead of the previous method of physically separating internal networks for security, the bank will introduce a system that divides security domains into more granular segments and verifies each one.

Lee Changyong, Governor of the Bank of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News

On July 9, the Bank of Korea announced that it will establish a "pilot system for improved network separation" this month and begin selecting an operator to manage it. The project budget is 13.7 billion KRW.

Since 2016, the Bank of Korea has physically separated its internal business network from the external internet to protect internal information systems from cyber threats. In this environment, employees used at least two PCs each. However, after the network improvement, employees will be able to use both internal and external networks on a single laptop. Mobile devices such as tablets will also be usable for work without location restrictions.

The pilot project for network improvement will begin as early as November, or by the end of the year at the latest, following the selection of an operator between late July and early August. The full-scale implementation is targeted for next year. A Bank of Korea official explained, "Most routine tasks, except for the core financial network that handles accounting and will remain closed, will be included in this initiative," adding that "about 200 employees will be the first to participate in the pilot project, which could start as early as November."

After the network improvement, the bank will adopt a "zero trust" security model. This principle assumes that nothing?users, devices, or network access requests?can be trusted by default, and continuously verifies everything on the assumption of potential intrusion. Security domains will be finely segmented by level, and users will be granted only the minimum necessary permissions. User behavior and abnormal signs will also be analyzed in real time. The Bank of Korea has already completed consulting on a zero trust-based environment for network improvement and plans to apply these findings in practice.

In addition, by the end of the year, the Bank of Korea will introduce its own AI system specialized for finance and economics. Naver Cloud is in charge of building the platform, which will be based on "NeuroCloud for HyperCLOVA X." Due to the need for strict security in its operations, the Bank of Korea has not been able to use commercial generative AI services such as ChatGPT. The Bank of Korea's AI will be trained within a closed network by installing cloud infrastructure inside the Bank of Korea's data center, completely blocking any external data leakage.

The Bank of Korea's AI will be launched by the end of the year at the latest. It is expected to be widely used for research and analysis on economic issues. Currently, it is being trained on digitalized policy analysis materials produced by the bank over the past 20 years. In particular, by reducing the time spent searching vast amounts of data or translating confidential documents, the AI is expected to allow employees to focus more on advanced tasks that require creativity. It will also be used to support the application of high-level work. A Bank of Korea official said, "For example, 'VAR' refers to video assistant referee in soccer, but at the Bank of Korea, it is frequently mentioned as an economic model. Since terminology varies by field, the system is being built to handle such distinctions with precision."

Previously, Lee Changyong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, also expressed high expectations for the bank's first year of AI adoption. At the bank's anniversary ceremony last month, Governor Lee stated, "AI requires processing large-scale data and performing high-performance computations, which is difficult with ordinary computers or internal servers. Cloud computing is essential for fully utilizing AI technology," adding, "I hope the Bank of Korea's own AI adoption project and the network improvement pilot project will accelerate AI use in the public sector and help employees become more creative talents."