South Korea's AI Era Requires New State Infrastructure, Aggressive Investment: Policy Chief

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- The presidential policy chief said Wednesday that the advent of a new artificial intelligence (AI) era requires new state infrastructure, calling for aggressive investment to bolster the country's potential growth trajectory in AI.

Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, made the point at a discussion hosted by the Kwanhun Club, a senior journalists' association, amid a stock market boom in South Korea driven by record profits and stock gains by AI-related chipmakers.

"If the ongoing semiconductor and AI supercycle constitutes the beginning of a structural transformation that will raise South Korea's potential growth trajectory, as well as a reorganization of its industrial structure, our response should be different," Kim told the meeting.

He said the new AI era requires new state infrastructure to support the drive, adding that the government "needs to lay the growth foundation through preemptive investment that is aggressive enough to transform South Korea's industrial map."

The policy chief, in particular, cited the need for massive amounts of electricity and land, as well as a new industrial ecosystem, saying that regional areas could provide a new industrial landscape featuring data centers, future electricity networks and other infrastructure.

Kim argued the new AI era also requires social discussions on how to utilize excess tax revenues, as well as policies addressing social and labor issues. "We have to look into how the fruits of growth in the AI era are shared," he said.

"AI could enrich a country, but there is no guarantee that all people could equally enjoy the benefits," added Kim.