Year-End Press Briefing by the Ministry of Science and ICT
Emphasis on Private Sector Collaboration and AI Co-Scientist Structure
Both Government and Companies Must Strengthen Information Security
"There will never be an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. Starting next year, we will work swiftly with the private sector to deliver tangible results and drive innovation in various scientific and technological fields such as bio and quantum through AI."
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Hae-Kun Bae is speaking at the year-end press briefing held in Sejong City on the 15th. Photo by Noh Kyungjo
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Hae-Kun made these remarks at the year-end press briefing held in Sejong City on the 15th, stating, "This year, we focused on restoring the budget and strengthening the infrastructure."
He added, "I believe it is important to drive the transition to industrial AI (AX), and we are working across ministries to create synergy. By cooperating with companies, we expect to see results starting next year."
Regarding concerns about an AI bubble, he said, "From a corporate perspective, large-scale investments may raise questions about efficiency," but emphasized, "AI investment will continue worldwide." He further expressed the view that, if anything, these concerns have made companies hesitant to invest, which has kept Korea from taking the lead in the AI market.
Bae stressed, "It is difficult to become a powerhouse in AI with only government will and investment. That is why it is very significant that companies have responded by securing 260,000 graphics processing units (GPUs)."
He continued, "Google has drawn attention to tensor processing units (TPUs), and if we create strong references and expand overseas, I believe the entire industrial AI ecosystem will be established. We aim to accelerate progress for 'AI for Everyone.' We are focusing on assembling co-scientists to drive change through AI."
He also expressed expectations for the independent AI foundation model project, saying, "In the first evaluation in January next year, we aim to reach 90% of the global standard, and by June, we hope to be competitive in large language model (LLM) inference as well."
Regarding the decision to impose 'punitive fines' in response to a series of hacking incidents, he clarified that the purpose is not simply to collect fines. He explained that the special provision being reviewed by the Personal Information Protection Commission, which would impose fines of up to 10% of revenue, pertains to 'leaks,' while the Ministry of Science and ICT deals with 'breaches,' so there is no overlap.
Bae stated, "Hacking incidents and information security issues will continue to occur in the future. I hope the private sector will recognize information security as an investment." He added, "The discussion of punitive fines serves as a warning to approach the issue with that level of seriousness," and noted, "The government has also increased the related budget by about 17% for next year."
Meanwhile, on his 152nd day in office, Bae commented, "Under the Deputy Prime Minister system, the ministry's external recognition and public interest have increased. I will continue working to meet these expectations."
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