Bae Kyung-hoon, president of LG AI Research. — The Korea Herald
SEOUL: President Lee Jae Myung sent a clear signal Monday that South Korea is going all-in on artificial intelligence (AI), tapping AI expert Bae Kyung-hoon, chief of LG AI Research, as the new science minister to spearhead the country’s AI initiative.
Monday’s nomination came on the heels of another high-profile pick from the private sector.
On June 15, Ha Jung-woo, the head of Naver AI Innovation Centre, was appointed as the first senior secretary of AI and future planning. The newly established post is tasked with leading the country’s investments and policies for AI infrastructure.
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik explained that the president appointed the 49-year-old AI strategist to help propel South Korea into the ranks of the world’s top three AI powerhouses.
“We expect Bae to strengthen AI competitiveness alongside Ha Jung-woo,” said Kang.
Bringing in top experts from South Korea’s tech giants LG and Naver highlights how serious the Lee administration is about making the country a global AI leader.
Lee has announced plans to invest over 100 trillion won or about US$73.5bil in public-private funds to push the AI industry forward.
“With both Ha and Bae on board, it is clear that the Lee administration’s focus is on AI,” said Hwang Yong-sik, a professor at Sejong University College of Business and Economics.
“There is a growing recognition that relying solely on the public sector for AI development has its limitations.
“The industry needs both the government and the private sector. While the government can lead, AI advancement is not possible without support from the private sector, hence the appointment of experts from companies,” Hwang said.
Bae’s career spans startups and South Korea’s largest corporations, including Samsung, SK and LG. In 2006, he worked as a senior researcher at Samsung Thales, a joint venture between now-defunct Samsung Techwin and French firm Thales.
From 2011 to 2016, he was at SK Telecom’s future technology research and development centre
Bae joined LG Group in 2016 as an AI expert, taking on various AI roles at LG Economic Research Institute, LG Uplus and LG Science Park.
In 2020, he became the founding president of LG AI Research, the conglomerate’s dedicated AI think tank.
Under Bae’s leadership, LG AI Research developed the hyperscale language model Exaone in 2021, commercialised it in 2023, and released its third version as open source last year.
Most recently, his team unveiled South Korea’s first interference AI model, Exaone Deep, in March.
In addition to his corporate leadership, Bae has also served in key government advisory roles related to AI governance and privacy.
Not many people in South Korea have such deep experience and expertise in the still relatively nascent industry as Bae, said Choi Byung-ho, a professor at Korea University’s Human-inspired AI Research Lab.
“In South Korea, only a handful of people in the field can handle the frontier model from start to finish, and Bae is one of them,” said Choi, stressing the urgency of AI development in South Korea.
“We are in a race against time, and speed matters more than ever,” he said. “Decision-making has to be fast and precise. We can’t afford to put a generalist or bureaucrat in that role. Only experts with real field experience are what’s needed.”
Once Parliament gives the green light, Bae will be in charge of the Science and ICT Ministry and oversee the country’s science and digital infrastructure policies. — The Korea Herald/ANN
