President Lee Jae-myung appointed Ha Jung-woo (48) as the first chief of artificial intelligence (AI) future planning at the presidential office. It was an unexpected surprise appointment. The appointment of a person in their 40s to lead the national AI strategy and budget has been welcomed by the industry as a "signal for a shift to a field-centered AI policy."
With Ha taking on the responsibility of designing the roadmap for the government’s leap to become one of the 'top three AI nations,' there are expectations that his blueprint for 'sovereign AI' will gain momentum.
◇ Dynamic role as a spokesperson for the AI industry… "Expectations for reflecting private sector opinions"
According to the AI industry on the 16th, expectations are growing that private opinions will be reflected in policies as Ha moves to the presidential office. Ha has been acclaimed for his role as a spokesperson for the AI industry during his time as the head of Naver Cloud. He has actively voiced the issues and concerns facing the domestic AI industry, and necessary policies through his personal social media, attending various discussions, lectures, and seminars held by the government, the National Assembly, and private corporations.
An industry official noted, "Ha is one of the figures who has most actively made the industry's difficulties known externally," adding, "There are high expectations that realistic policies will emerge as an experienced private-sector AI expert takes charge of the national AI strategy."
As Ha is known as an AI expert who is 'well-acquainted with the field,' analyses suggest that the current government's AI policies will be market-friendly. A native AI expert from Busan, Ha completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in computer engineering at Seoul National University. He joined Naver Labs, a research and development subsidiary of Naver, in 2015, researching AI, and has led the development of 'HyperCLOVA X,' a large language model specialized for the Korean language through his work at Naver Clova AI Research, Naver AI Lab, and Naver Cloud AI Innovation Center.
He has also been actively involved in the fields of AI ethics and policy. Ha has voiced concerns about publicness and social responsibility in AI while serving as co-chair of the citizen group, the Science and Technology Society Realization Alliance (STSR). He has led the 'AI Future Forum' of the STSR, delivering over 800 AI lectures last year alone. Recently, he has taken on the role of the sixth head of the Gwangju Artificial Intelligence High School, focusing on training practical talents for local youth.
In May, Ha mentioned in a personal Facebook account, "If a Ministry of AI Digital Innovation is established in the new government, we should hire substantial private experts instead of bureaucrats like Japan, and operate it in a way that maintains expertise through exceptions to rotation policies while moving agilely like a startup." He further warned, "If we continue like this, not only will we be overtaken by Japan in the AI field in 2 to 3 years, but we could also fall behind as a mid-tier AI nation."
During this process, Ha has been recognized for contributing to the widespread awareness and inclusion of the concept of 'sovereign AI' in the policy agenda. Sovereign AI refers to AI that is independent and not subordinate to any specific country, a combination of the term sovereign meaning self-governing and AI. He has emphasized the need to develop sovereign AI that reflects Korea's culture, systems, and values, asserting that the government should bulk purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) to support 4 to 5 national AI corporations. He also stated that a national superintelligence research institute should be established for securing core AI technologies.
Recently, he stated, "In the intensified AI competition between the U.S. and China, it is important for Korea to lead the strategy of solidarity among mid-tier nations that are concerned about dependency."
The government also cited Ha's 'sovereign AI' philosophy as one of the reasons for his selection. Chief of Staff Kang Hoon said on the 15th, "Ha proposed the concept of sovereign AI and is an expert emphasizing an AI virtuous growth strategy that shares achievements between the country and corporations. His abundant practical experience at Naver was highly valued as it could be immediately utilized in establishing national strategies."
◇ The concept of sovereign AI is likely to be specified… "Policies needed to encourage corporate participation"
There are expectations that Ha's usual arguments for a sovereign AI blueprint will become more concrete with this appointment.
The majority of AI experts unanimously agreed on the need for a competitive system of sovereign AI models from the perspective of national strategic assets. Especially in fields like defense, healthcare, and welfare, solely relying on models from overseas big-tech companies carries a high risk of information leakage, making sovereign AI essential.
However, there were opinions that this government has limitations in attracting talented AI professionals through the proposed public-private partnership method. Even if a Korean-type large language model (LLM) is created, there are concerns regarding how to ensure profitability. A professor from a domestic AI department stated, "From the promise alone, sovereign AI has strong public service characteristics, but for Korea to leap to become an AI powerhouse and generate revenue in the future, it needs to foster open-source based global services. Since the two could conflict, detailed directions should be well established when formulating related policies."
Moreover, it has been pointed out that policies need to be established to encourage corporate participation in order to realize the government’s commitment to a '100 trillion won era of public-private investment in AI-related fields.' Looking at the National AI Computing Center construction project by the Ministry of Science and ICT, it has been rejected twice recently due to a lack of bidding corporations. As the private equity is 49%, lower than the government equity ratio, and the participation costs outweigh the benefits, there are criticisms regarding the lack of incentive for private participants to step forward.