Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, will concurrently serve as standing vice chairman of the National AI Strategy Committee for the time being. The move is seen as a response to concerns that the committee's role as the AI control tower could be disrupted amid the vacancy.
The National AI Strategy Committee said Tuesday that Bae, who serves as non-standing vice chairman, will take on the standing vice chairman role to run the committee. Former standing vice chairman Lim Moon-young had earlier tendered his resignation to run in a by-election and was dismissed from the post.
Bae began his first official duties by presiding over the 18th steering committee meeting the same day. The committee said it will continue to hold meetings every two weeks to minimize policy gaps.
Major agenda items at the meeting included a first-quarter progress review of the "Korea AI Action Plan," support for planning new research and development (R&D) projects for next year, the status of establishing an "AI Legislative Framework (tentative name)," and operational plans for a government performance evaluation task force. Of the 326 AI Action Plan tasks finalized at the second plenary meeting in February this year, 288, or 88.3 percent, are progressing as scheduled, the committee said. It assessed that task implementation is showing an overall stable trend.
Key policy pillars cited included the expansion of AI infrastructure, such as the National Assembly's passage of the AI Data Center (AIDC) Special Act and the phased introduction of advanced graphics processing units (GPUs). Also mentioned were the resolution of the "K-Moonshot" strategy for AI-driven scientific innovation, the announcement of measures to expand the use of public works for AI training, and the preparation of a roadmap for introducing a "vulnerability reporting, action and disclosure system."
The committee plans to continue managing the pace and outcomes of each task through quarterly progress reviews. It will also share the results of support for new AI budgets and projects that each ministry is planning for 2027 and expand the scope of planning support to non-R&D areas going forward. In particular, the committee plans to ensure that new projects are systematically pursued in line with the action plan, minimize similar and overlapping investments, and improve the efficiency of policy and fiscal investment at the government-wide level.
The committee also discussed a government-wide "AI Legislative Framework (draft)" aligned with national strategy, as legislative demand has expanded across all sectors, including defense, manufacturing, healthcare and education, since the AI Framework Act took effect.
"At a time when national AI competitiveness is more important than ever, I will stably continue the role of the AI control tower," Bae said. "I will swiftly pursue the core tasks for the leap to AI G3 so that there are no gaps in committee operations and the implementation of major AI policies." He added, "Based on the first-quarter progress review of the AI Action Plan, we plan to supplement and improve detailed directions together with each ministry, and conduct periodic reviews going forward to support the action plan's spread on the ground."
