"Rapid policy decisions, active coordination on key issues": Ha Jung-woo, vice chair of AI strategy committee

[Financial News] Ha Jung-woo, who took office as standing vice chairperson of the National AI Strategy Committee chaired by President Lee Jae-myung, pledged swift and proactive committee action, saying, "We will make the necessary policy decisions quickly, actively coordinate interministerial issues, and boldly remove obstacles on the ground."
He also said he would "realize an 'AI for everyone' in which the benefits of AI are evenly spread across society."
The National AI Strategy Committee said on the 31st that Ha Jung-woo had been inaugurated as its new standing vice chairperson.
In his inaugural remarks, Ha said, "The world is now entering a new era of civilizational transformation centered on artificial intelligence (AI)." He added that the National AI Strategy Committee must present a national AI vision and serve as the core of AI governance by linking the innovation capabilities of the private sector with the policy capabilities of the government to deliver real results.

He stressed that no single ministry or company can win the competition in the AI era on its own. He said the committee would bring national capabilities together and act as a focal point for leading South Korea's AI transformation.
As the committee's key priorities, Ha proposed mobilizing national capabilities to help South Korea become one of the world's top three AI powers, driving an AI transformation across industry, the public sector and daily life, and realizing an 'AI for everyone' in which all citizens can benefit from AI.
First, he said the committee would strengthen cross-government policy coordination and public-private cooperation around the 'Three Major Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward,' built on semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers (AIDC) as the three main pillars.
The committee plans to build an 'innovative AI ecosystem' in which semiconductors, AI infrastructure, physical AI, and the manufacturing and robotics industries are organically connected. It also aims to pool national capabilities so private investment and innovation can become new growth engines for South Korea's AI industry.
It will also lead interministerial cooperation so that AI becomes a practical driver of innovation across industry, research, education, healthcare, administration and public services. The committee said it will ensure the three mega projects link regional industrial bases and talent to new growth engines, leading to a Korean-style AI industrial revolution in which the capital region and local areas grow together.
Ha said, "We will make the necessary policy decisions quickly, actively coordinate interministerial issues, and boldly remove obstacles on the ground." He added, "AI should not be a technology for only a few companies or a specific class of people. It must be a technology that expands opportunities for all citizens and improves quality of life." He said he would realize an 'AI for everyone' in which the benefits of AI are evenly spread across society, beyond companies, regions, generations and social classes.
Ha said, "A good strategy is only the beginning. What matters is implementation and results." He emphasized that he would thoroughly monitor progress and take responsibility for supporting the Korea AI Action Plan and the Three Major Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward so they lead to actual policies, projects, investment, industrial growth and changes that people can feel.
He added, "I will do everything I can to ensure that the Three Major Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward and the national AI transformation promoted by the Lee Jae-myung administration proceed without setbacks, so that South Korea can rise beyond being a country the world watches closely and become a global model and an 'irreplaceable Korea' that the world needs."
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