Chey Tae-won: “Japan is our option; South Korea-Japan cooperation is indispensable”

[Financial News] SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said on the 5th, pointing to the situation in which the United States and China are engaged in a battle for supremacy over artificial intelligence (AI), “Japan is our option.”
At a special lecture that day in the central hall of Seoul National University’s College of Social Sciences, titled “Changes in the Global Economic Paradigm in the Age of AI and South Korea’s Vision,” Chey stressed, “Japan is saying, ‘Cooperation with South Korea is indispensable.’ Expanding that option right away could benefit us.”
Chey said, “Both South Korea and Japan have self-contained, island-like economic structures, with economic infrastructure such as roads, power and railways disconnected from the outside world.” He added, “As the free-trade system weakens, if the economies of South Korea, with a GDP of $2 trillion, and Japan, with a GDP of $4 trillion, are linked, the impact would be more than three times as great. It could also reduce the social costs both countries face, such as low birth rates and aging populations.”
Additionally, regarding South Korea’s position amid the U.S.-China struggle for supremacy, Chey said, “We have reached a crossroads where we have to take one side or the other,” and noted, “We have entered a situation where we are being forced to give up one of the markets.”
Chey said, “The United States and China are building infrastructure because losing in AI could mean losing the war for supremacy.” He added, “They are pouring money on a large scale and in a short time into power grids, highways, mobile communications and cloud infrastructure, and the resulting spillover benefits have also been significant, extending to semiconductors.”
Chey said, “The enormous sums invested in AI infrastructure have led to shortages of semiconductors and graphics processing units (GPUs), among other things,” and predicted, “This problem looks likely to continue.”
Referring to how we are living amid a clash for hegemony between the United States and China and in an era of massive capital investment in AI, Chey said, “The nature of the game has changed completely. The scale and concept of the money being invested have become so different.” He put forward “new capitalism,” “a country operated on the basis of AI,” “expanding options” and “a new compensation system,” among other ideas.
Regarding an AI-powered nation, Chey said, “It means the system surrounding us is changing.” He added, “Ultimately, whether we can quickly adapt our growth model to AI in these difficult times of geopolitical risk will determine our country’s fate.”

[email protected] Kim Hak-jae, Park Ji-yeon Reporter