Dokpamo continues and Frontier AI is promoted... Emphasis on securing leadership in physical AI
Government-wide cyber response, conflict of interest in R&D, treatment of scientists and engineers
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporters Shin Seon-mi, Kwon Ha-young, Park Hyeong-bin, and Oh Ji-eun = Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Bae Kyeong-hoon reaffirmed his will to strengthen artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness by continuing the independent AI foundation model (Dokpamo) and speeding up the development of frontier AI and physical AI at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit on the 6th.
As the government's AI drive accelerates, issues such as budget and manpower shortages in the AI safety field, lack of a government-wide cyber security response system, and conflicts of interest among research and development (R&D) advisors have come to the fore, and there have also been calls for improved treatment of scientists and engineers and policy supplements surrounding support for domestic and foreign talent.
◇ Bae Kyung-hoon “Continuing Dokpamo and pursuing Frontier AI separately”
Deputy Prime Minister Bae reaffirmed his position during the National Assembly audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT that day, saying that the Dokpamo project will continue to be promoted as per the existing goal, but that the Frontier AI development project for cyber security response, etc. will be separately added.
Regarding the evaluation level of the Dokpamo business, he said, "We have completed the second evaluation and are entering the third process." He evaluated that the second evaluation result was around the mid-point at the global level, and announced that he aims to get close to the level of the global open weight model in the third round.
Regarding the background of the 4.7 trillion won Frontier AI project, he explained, "Is it possible to secure AI that can respond to cyber security after the Mythos shock? We judged that it would be difficult to reach the level of AI used in industry and the public at the current level of Dokpamo."
He went on to say, “The target standards set last year and the current standards for this year are clearly different,” adding that the U.S. government is planning a frontier model that will go beyond existing goals with the announcement of superintelligence.
◇ Chinese-made humanoid in the National Audit Office… “Physical AI leadership threat”
On this day, during the questioning, two Chinese-made humanoid robots appeared and demonstrated martial arts poomsae and dance moves.
Lee Jeong-heon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, revealed a video of a robot mass production factory and data center in Beijing, China, which he visited in person prior to the audit, and said, "I felt eerie and scared when I saw the mass production system in which robots hanging on an aerial conveyor belt are assembled step by step."
At the same time, citing global market research firm Omdia, he pointed out, “Chinese companies dominated the top 1 to 6 positions among the 13,000 humanoid robots produced around the world last year,” and added, “If we lose the lead in physical AI, Korea’s future competitiveness will be completely threatened.”
Deputy Prime Minister Bae responded by saying, "We have designated physical AI as Korea's future core food, and are building a robot ecosystem that can be used in actual industrial sites beyond simple entertainment," and said that he will secure the robot foundation model, physical data, and software competitiveness without a hitch.
◇ AI safety budget, 224 to 1 gap compared to performance sector
Securing the government’s competitiveness in AI safety and trust has also emerged as a major topic.
Lee Joo-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised the issue that among the AI-related budgets, the performance infrastructure budget is KRW 6.149 trillion, while the safety budget is only KRW 27.4 billion, showing a gap of 224 to 1. The AI Safety Research Institute's workforce also increased from 26 to 38, falling short of the growth rate in competing countries.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae also responded, "As the performance of AI is rapidly developing and improving, trust and safety are very important. It is very important to secure capabilities by increasing the number of personnel and budget at the safety research institute."
He said that he is pursuing a security-specific AI model business and a frontier AI business together after the Mythos shock, and that he plans to establish and announce a master plan for creating a national AI safety ecosystem in December, which consists of three strategies: establishing a national AI safety management system, strengthening cutting-edge AI safety response capabilities, and creating an AI environment in people's daily lives.
◇ Criticism of lack of government-wide security mechanism and suspicion of hacking of LGU+
Lack of response to infringement incidents also came to the fore.
People Power Party lawmaker Seo Cheon-ho pointed out that although breaches and leaks increased by 26% and leaks by 45% compared to 2023, the related budget actually decreased, excluding the budget for building an AI-based breach response system. He also pointed out that the lack of a government-wide countermeasure organization is also a problem because the breach response system is divided by agency.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae said, “It has increased by 44% to KRW 523.2 billion compared to the existing KRW 363.4 billion in 2026,” and said the Ministry of Science and ICT will take the lead in responding to infringement incidents and standardizing manuals and will strive to spread the word among related companies and all ministries.
He added that with the revision of the Information and Communications Network Act on October 1, it became possible to conduct on-site investigations based solely on hacking circumstances without a corporate report, and that punitive economic sanctions would also be strengthened.
Regarding LG U+ [032640], which is suspected of concealing hacking, he responded to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Cho Kyeong-tae, saying, "If it is revealed that they intentionally destroyed evidence and interfered with various investigations, we should naturally request exemption from the penalty."
The government also announced that it will actively take action to ensure that penalties are waived when serious service failures or violations of key contractual obligations are discovered. He explained that the hacking investigation is still in progress, and automatic remote USIM (USIM) updates are planned to be implemented from the end of October.
◇ R&D advisory committee members pointed out conflict of interest… Improvement in treatment of people in science and technology
The issue of conflict of interest at the National Science and Technology Advisory Council was also raised.
Lee Yeon-hee, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said that after comparing the list of members of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council over the past six years with the writing staff of new R&D project planning reports, 38 people with member experience participated in 41 planning reports. She criticized that there were no cases of applications for avoidance or avoidance, saying, "The players also doubled as referees."
Deputy Prime Minister Bae replied, "I believe there is a conflict of interest problem," and "I think there is a loophole here due to self-regulation." At the same time, he announced that he would check the facts regarding the points raised and take necessary action.
There were also opinions that the treatment of scientists and engineers needs to be improved.
In particular, it is pointed out that in the case of government-funded research institutes, there are many non-regular workers and the compensation is relatively low compared to companies, which may weaken the human resources base in science and technology.
In relation to this, Park In-gyu, head of the Science and Technology Innovation Division of the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "Looking at the medical school craze, we need to look at why people want to become doctors. I think we need to establish a system that gives them confidence that they can continue the research they like and have a stable life when they go down the path of a scientist."
There were also questions about the project to attract overseas talent.
It is urgent to increase research funds for domestic talent rather than attracting overseas talent by spending more than 1 trillion won over five years to create a domestic talent pool.
Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister Bae said, "There are various supports for young researchers in Korea, but they may be insufficient. We will further strengthen and supplement such areas to establish an appropriate direction."
