“Korea’s biotech and AI capabilities are the world’s best” ... Bill Gates’s Gates Foundation to open Korea office next month

[Financial News] The Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic and research funding foundation, led by Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates, will open its first official office in Korea next month. The foundation plans to step up international cooperation to tackle global health crises, drawing on Korea’s strong pharmaceutical and biotech capabilities and its prowess in artificial intelligence (AI).
In a video address of congratulations at the 2026 World Bio Summit, co-hosted in Seoul on the 21st by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the World Health Organization (WHO), Gates Foundation Chairman Bill Gates said, “The Gates Foundation plans to open its first office in Korea,” adding, “Through this, we hope to support Korea’s global leadership in a range of fields, including biotech, pharmaceuticals and AI.”
Lee Hoon-sang, strategic planning director at the International Health Technology Research Fund (Light Foundation), has been tapped to become the first head of the Gates Foundation’s Korea office. The foundation plans to complete final preparations for the opening, with Lee at the helm, and begin official operations around mid-November. Korea will thereby become a key Asian hub for the Gates Foundation, following China, Japan and Singapore, among others.
In his address that day, Gates highlighted Korea’s role, pointing to the weakening momentum for responding to infectious diseases since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Deadly diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria are making a comeback, while global health assistance is declining,” he said. “Korea’s role, with its world-class biotech technology and R&D capabilities, is more important than ever.” He added, “Korea was the first country in the world to establish a comprehensive national AI governance framework,” and said, “We must share Korea’s expertise with low-income countries to realize the potential of this technology.”
The Gates Foundation had already co-founded the Light Foundation in 2018 with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and five Korean life-sciences companies, including SK bioscience, to support infectious disease research and development in low- and middle-income countries. It has continued its partnership, including by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on health cooperation with the government in 2022. A Ministry of Health and Welfare official said the opening of the Korea office would give a further boost to R&D cooperation with Korean pharmaceutical, biotech and AI companies.
At the summit, which opened under the theme “Spreading Biohealth Innovation Driven by AI,” Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus jointly announced the “Seoul Declaration on AI Healthcare.” This is the first time the two sides have issued a joint declaration to the international community on the use of AI technology. It sets out principles for global solidarity to ensure that the benefits of AI innovation are shared fairly and safely around the world.


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter