The South Korean military is set to establish an "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy Assistant," which will utilize AI to enhance administrative work efficiency in the short term and support policy decision-making in the mid- to long-term.
The Ministry of National Defense announced on August 29 that it held the "Defense Artificial Intelligence Conference" that afternoon in the main conference room at its headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, presided over by Vice Minister Lee Doohee. The meeting was attended by key stakeholders in defense AI, including the Director General of Resource Management, the Director General of Force Policy, the Chief of Command, Control, Communications at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of Army Policy, the Chiefs of Information Planning for the Navy and Air Force, and deputy heads of national defense research institutions.
During the meeting, reports were presented on the 2026 defense AI project plans, demonstration plans for implementing AI-based manned-unmanned integrated systems, and the progress of improving private sector access to defense data. The Ministry of National Defense stated, "We have continued extensive discussions on AI-related strategies and directions for utilization," adding, "With this meeting, we have secured both organizational and budgetary foundations, allowing us to move onto a practical implementation track."
In recent years, the Ministry of National Defense has driven innovation in three areas-governance, infrastructure, and environment/ecosystem-to advance defense AI. Regarding governance, the ministry has unified defense AI work under the Office of Advanced Power Planning and will convert the head position into an open recruitment post that allows for the hiring of private sector experts, with recruitment to begin in September. In addition, since last month, a Defense AI Task Force has been reviewing major AI-related issues.
To build infrastructure, the ministry has significantly increased its AI budget. In particular, it is actively working to include new project budgets to leverage advanced private sector AI technologies for defense. The ministry is also actively pursuing ways to facilitate the use of defense data by private companies. The aim is to enhance data accessibility, incorporate creative private sector ideas into defense, and accelerate the development of defense AI technologies.
Based on these efforts, the Ministry of National Defense plans to further develop the defense AI ecosystem. In the short term, it will use AI to improve administrative work efficiency, and in the mid- to long-term, it will establish an AI policy assistant to support the Minister’s policy decisions and innovate the defense decision-making process. The ministry also plans to develop an "AI Battle Assistant" to support commanders' decisions on the battlefield and to continue advancing the intelligence of weapon systems.
Vice Minister Lee stated, "To overcome the crisis facing national defense, such as a shortage of military manpower, we will devote ourselves to innovation through defense artificial intelligence with the sense that this is the last golden opportunity."
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