Ha Jungwoo: "AI Action Plan to Be Unveiled This Year... Becoming a Top 3 AI Power Is Fully Achievable" [Interview]

Ha Jungwoo, Chief AI Officer, Interview with Asia Business Daily on the 10th
When Asked, "Can Korea Become a Top Three AI Power?"
"Says It Depends on Government Strategy and Corporate Investment"
Acknowledges AI Technology Gap with China
But S

The Lee Jaemyung administration will unveil a national "action plan" within the year to achieve its goal of becoming a top-three global power in artificial intelligence (AI). The comprehensive plan aims to elevate Korea's current status from being in the "third group" alongside the United Kingdom and France, following the United States and China, to securing an undisputed third place. The action plan will encompass AI infrastructure, data centers, AI semiconductors, AI transformation (AX), talent development, and regulatory reforms. The government believes that if Korea firmly establishes itself as the third-leading nation in AI competitiveness, it will be able to compete with China not only in technology but also in terms of security and trust, reinforcing its vision of an "AI-based society."

Ha Jung-woo, Chief AI Future Planning Officer of the Presidential Office, is speaking during an interview held on the 9th at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul. (Photo by Presidential Office Photographers)

Ha Jungwoo, Chief AI Future Planning Officer of the Presidential Office, stated in an interview with The Asia Business Daily on December 10 at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, "We have already developed an action plan in collaboration with various ministries to strengthen AI competitiveness," adding, "We have decided to present the plan to the public in some form within this year." The process is expected to follow the U.S. model, where a draft is released first, and feedback is gathered from AI-related companies and experts before finalizing the detailed implementation plan.

The action plan will serve as an "implementation document" detailing the roles of each ministry by stage and timeline across approximately eight divisions, including technology infrastructure, data, industry-specific AX, talent and education, and regulatory frameworks. Ha explained, "Some ministries are tasked with securing infrastructure such as data centers and graphics processing units (GPUs) by specific deadlines and at certain scales, while others are responsible for outlining when to launch AI projects in sectors like industry, education, and welfare. This is not just a national AI strategy in words, but a roadmap with concrete schedules and tasks."

Korea Ranks in the Top Three for AI with the UK and France... "With the Right Policies, Investment, and Talent, Top Three Is Within Reach"

He projected that Korea could fully establish itself as the third-leading nation in AI competitiveness after the U.S. and China, provided it continues to develop its capabilities evenly across government policy, corporate investment, technology development, and talent cultivation. Currently, Korea is generally considered to be in the third group, along with the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Singapore, following the U.S. and China.

Ha noted, "In the latest AI nation rankings by Tortoise Media, a UK-based media outlet, Korea is ranked fifth, but it is evaluated as a top-tier country within the third group due to its balanced strengths in talent, research and development (R&D), semiconductors, data centers, and industrial applications," emphasizing, "Becoming a top-three AI power is a fully achievable goal." He added, "If securing an undisputed third place proves difficult, it is also possible to form a 'Top Three Alliance' by joining forces with other middle-power countries."

Ha dismissed concerns over the rapidly spreading "AI bubble" theory, viewing the current trend as an opportunity rather than a risk. The AI bubble theory gained traction amid analyses that returns on service investments have been limited, and concerns intensified in November when shares of leading AI companies like Nvidia plummeted. Some feared this signaled the bursting of the bubble.

Ha stated, "Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank, who recently met with President Lee, is someone who advocates going 'all-in' on Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI), and he does not view AI as a bubble." He continued, "Even Goldman Sachs' analysis shows that the revenues, operating profits, and growth rates of major AI companies are qualitatively different from those during the dot-com bubble, and the current situation is not one where the bubble will burst overnight." He further added, "The government must always be prepared with a Plan B. We are pursuing strategies to hedge risks by connecting AI with the real economy-such as factories, robots, and energy-and through joint investments with countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."

Domestic AI Holds Security and Trust Advantages over China... Korea-UAE Working Group to Launch Next Month

Ha Jung-woo, Chief AI Future Planning Officer of the Presidential Office, is speaking during an interview held on the 9th at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul. (Photo by Presidential Office Press Photographers)

Regarding the global AI competition with China, Ha suggested that there are realistic opportunities due to security-related issues. He said, "Just because we cannot surpass China in every aspect does not mean there are no opportunities. AI is now a security asset, and for middle-power countries, the choice of partners depends not only on price and performance but also on which country poses less risk of dependency." President Lee Jaemyung has consistently emphasized the need to prevent worsening inequality due to the AI technology gap at international forums such as the United Nations (UN), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Group of Twenty (G20), reiterating the concept of an "AI-based society."

Ha further explained, "Korea is a country that possesses a relatively well-balanced combination of energy infrastructure, memory semiconductors, neural processing units (NPUs), data centers and cloud services, large language models (LLMs), and industrial robots. In fact, no other country has this particular combination, so even if Korea's solutions are slightly more expensive or less performant than China's, Korea can be chosen for reasons of security and trust."

The "Stargate Project" partnership established with the UAE during last month's Africa and Middle East tour will be pursued as a national-level initiative involving Korean AI, semiconductor, and energy companies. The broad intergovernmental agreement has already been reached, and with the bilateral working group set to launch in January next year, participating companies and projects are expected to be finalized in the first half of the year.

Ha stated, "The UAE Stargate is a 5GW-scale AI data center project, with about 1GW already taking shape and the remaining 4GW still in the planning stage. The UAE government and the state-owned AI company G42 have proposed to develop these 4GW together with Korea."

Securing GPUs and Fostering Domestic NPUs... Enhancing AI Semiconductor Competitiveness

The government plans to pursue both strategies: securing GPUs and fostering domestic NPUs. Ha explained, "The 13,000 GPUs secured through the supplementary budget are being prepared for use by external startups and researchers from the first half of next year, following server installation and testing. The Ministry of Science and ICT is designing a system to distribute these GPUs to national AI projects, startups, and researchers in the form of GPU credits and vouchers."

Regarding the 260,000 GPUs secured by companies such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and Naver, Ha said, "These should be utilized according to each company's strategy, so the government cannot direct their use. However, we are actively considering ways to reduce private investment uncertainty by creating domestic GPU demand through government vouchers and public projects."

On concerns about excessive reliance on Nvidia for GPU supply, Ha said the government will pursue a two-track strategy to enhance domestic AI semiconductor competitiveness in the medium to long term. "Nvidia GPUs currently have a two-year order backlog, which is why the UK was so pleased to secure 120,000 units. The perception that Korea is receiving GPUs that could not be sold to China is not accurate," he countered. "In the short term, securing enough GPUs is like buying a ticket to participate in the competition, while in the medium to long term, we are implementing a two-track strategy to strengthen domestic AI semiconductor competitiveness, such as NPUs, and reduce dependency."

Concluding the interview, Ha emphasized that AI is both a growth engine and a security asset for future generations, underscoring the need for confidence in Korea's capabilities. He said, "Competition is indeed fierce, but if the government, businesses, and academia unite as one team and expand alliances with more countries starting with the UAE, I believe we can achieve this goal. Because this is so important, we must do it well, and I hope that this issue will be viewed as a national task, beyond party lines or ideological divides."