Lee Chang-yong and Choi Tae-won Special Dialogue: "AI Competitiveness Stems from Focused Infrastructure Investment and Fostering Promising Startups"

Choi Tae-won: "At Least 1,400 Trillion Won Must Be Invested in AI Infrastructure Within Seven Years"
Lee Chang-yong: "Consensus on Fostering AI Startups... Bank of Korea to Launch AI Platform Next Month"
"Financial Digitalization Is Inevitable, but Capital Liberalization Issues Must Be Addressed"

"The competitiveness of South Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) industry comes from infrastructure investment and fostering promising startups."

(From left) Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, and Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, are exchanging views during the special discussion session of the "Bank of Korea-Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Joint Seminar" held on the 5th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Bank of Korea

On December 5, at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, and Choi Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shared their views during a special discussion at the Bank of Korea-Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry joint seminar held under the theme "Growth and Innovation Based on AI." They agreed on the need to invest in infrastructure and nurture startups to strengthen AI competitiveness.

"AI Competitiveness Stems from Focused Infrastructure Investment and Fostering Promising Startups"

Chairman Choi emphasized that, in order to survive in the global AI competition, South Korea must invest at least 1,400 trillion won in AI infrastructure within the next seven years. He stated, "To properly compete in the current global AI race, South Korea must build AI data centers with a combined capacity of 20 gigawatts (GW) within seven years," adding, "Given that 1 GW requires about 70 trillion won, a total investment of 1,400 trillion won is needed." He explained that such AI infrastructure could serve as an incentive to attract global investment.

He also stressed the need to foster promising AI startups. Chairman Choi said, "To attract resources from external markets, we must ultimately create more attractive companies than other countries," and pointed out, "If we do not establish a separate market for AI startups and create tens of thousands of AI startups, it will be difficult to win the current AI war."

Chairman Choi emphasized that, for South Korea to achieve its goal of becoming one of the global 'top three in AI,' it is inevitable to make strategic choices and focus resources. He said, "We must approach the AI war with a new strategy of 'selection and concentration' using our limited resources if we are to reach our goal of being in the top three."

Regarding the 'AI bubble' controversy, he asserted, "There is no bubble at the AI industry level." Chairman Choi analyzed, "The stock market always overshoots, so from that perspective there is a bubble, but as the AI industry continues to develop, the overshooting issue will be resolved." He added, "The only scenario in which the AI market collapses is if it is ultimately proven that AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is impossible. However, I believe we are already entering the era of AGI."

"Financial Digitalization Is Inevitable, but Capital Liberalization Issues Must Be Addressed"

Governor Lee stressed that, with the great AI transformation, the digitalization of currency is necessary and inevitable, but potential issues in the process must be addressed in advance. The most notable issue is capital liberalization. Governor Lee said, "I agree with introducing stablecoins as a way to advance the financial industry, but I do not believe there is yet a consensus on capital liberalization in our country," adding, "There are regulations and a need for oversight regarding people taking their assets abroad, so my view is that we should first introduce it through banks and then expand to non-banking sectors."

He noted, "A major contributor to our country's economic development was that (the people's) savings could be reinvested domestically," and pointed out, "Countries where social elites held much of their wealth overseas did not grow as much as we did."

Meanwhile, as part of its AI transformation, the Bank of Korea is set to launch the "Bank of Korea AI Platform" next month. The platform, built through public-private cooperation, is based on domestically developed "Sovereign AI" and operates within an environment that complies with public sector security regulations. Governor Lee stated, "We plan to expand services specialized for work areas within the Bank of Korea."