Koo Yooncheol: "Core AI Development Should Be Exempt from Preliminary Feasibility Studies"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol stated on the 17th that preliminary feasibility studies should be exempted for the development of core artificial intelligence (AI) projects.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yooncheol is responding to a question from Lee Eonju, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, during a government-wide economic inquiry held at the National Assembly on September 17, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

During a government-wide economic inquiry session at the National Assembly on this day, Deputy Prime Minister Koo expressed his complete agreement with Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jung Taeho's suggestion that preliminary feasibility studies should be waived for AI-related projects.

He explained, "If core AI projects undergo preliminary feasibility studies during the era of AI transformation, it would take three to four years just for the review, and another four to five years to implement the project, rendering the AI technology worthless by then. For core AI, preliminary feasibility studies must be exempted."

Deputy Prime Minister Koo further stated, "We already exempt research and development (R&D) from preliminary feasibility studies. In order for Korea to respond immediately to rapidly changing technological trends, we are boldly pursuing institutional reforms to exempt not only AI transformation and R&D but also policy-driven projects from preliminary feasibility studies altogether."