Artificial intelligence startups in Korea are urging policymakers to deliver tailored support that fits the domestic market ahead of the June 3 nationwide local elections. While candidates running for posts ranging from local council members to metropolitan and municipal heads are competitively unveiling AI-related pledges, startups say the proposals offer little practical help.
The Korea Artificial Intelligence Association, which has more than 1,000 member companies, is providing a regional AI pledge briefing service for local election candidates, the startup industry said on the 27th. The service recommends AI-based pledges that reflect regional population and economic data across areas including elderly and child care, education, infrastructure, mental health, health, disaster forecasting, neighborhood economies, return-to-farming, and the environment. For Yongin, considered an advanced industrial city, the service recommends corporate support measures and citizen safety policies worth 38 billion to 55 billion won across elderly care, infrastructure safety, health, disasters, and the neighborhood economy. More than 25 election camps have used the service since its launch, with candidates running in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Busan, and other regions.
The Korea Startup Forum, the country's largest startup organization, has also delivered policy proposals to the Democratic Party of Korea and the People Power Party aimed at energizing the startup ecosystem. Groups representing AI venture firms and startups are taking such action because the AI pledges being rolled out by candidates lack practical effectiveness.
For example, Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party's candidate for Gangwon governor, proposed attracting an AI data center worth up to 70 trillion won to Gangneung. The strategy is to draw related companies based on the data center to create jobs. Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, pledged to distribute free generative AI vouchers to 500,000 young people. Ha Jung-woo, the Democratic Party's candidate for Busan Buk-A in the parliamentary by-election held alongside the local elections and a former senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning, pledged to introduce an AI traffic signal system to solve chronic urban traffic problems.
Startups, by contrast, are asking the next metropolitan and municipal heads to have local governments become their first customers. "One of the reasons Korean AI startups are moving their offices to the United States is that there are no domestic companies or public agencies that will buy their solutions," said Lee Ki-dae, co-CEO of Startup Alliance. "The common request is for schools and public agencies to use startups' solutions first."
Industry voices also point out that the more rural the region, the more it needs edge data centers rather than hyperscale facilities. "It is more efficient to build inference-focused data centers of 1 megawatt or less at sites where power infrastructure is already in place, such as closed schools and aging industrial complexes," said Kim Hyun-cheol, chairman of the Korea Artificial Intelligence Association. "Linking edge data centers will make it easier to attract companies that can solve regional issues with AI." A startup industry official added, "Seoul alone is connected to many overseas cities as sister cities, and it would be effective to build AI hubs in those cities and support startups' overseas expansion. We need more help in the form of platforms that connect overseas investors and global platform companies with domestic startups."
