President Lee Jae-myung appointed Ha Jung-woo, head of the Naver Cloud AI Innovation Center, as the first AI Future Planning Chief at the Presidential Office on the 15th. The AI Chief is a newly established position in the Lee Jae-myung administration that will serve as the control tower for systemizing Lee's pledge of becoming a 'top three AI powerhouse.' In particular, they will oversee investment roadmaps such as the '100 trillion won' investment era, training 100,000 talented individuals, and the large-scale construction of AI data centers as a means to achieve this election pledge.
Kang Hoon, head of the Presidential Secretary's Office, announced the Presidential Office's personnel appointment during a briefing that day. The newly appointed Chief Ha is currently the head of Naver's Future AI Center and a co-representative of the National Union, a civic organization, and is a private sector expert who has served as the head of Naver AI Lab.
Deputy Minister Kang noted that 'Chief Ha is a person who has taken the lead in proposing and leading sovereign AI, which emphasizes the sovereignty of AI, as well as an AI expert who underscored a virtuous growth strategy where the state supports corporations and corporations share results.' He expressed hope that the field experience as the head of the Naver AI Innovation Center would be implemented in national AI policy.
President Lee said regarding the appointment of the first AI Chief, 'We need to reaffirm the goal of entering the top three AI powerhouses and rapidly enhance national AI competitiveness by entrusting authority and responsibility to private sector experts who know the field best,' Deputy Minister Kang reported.