SK Group chairman calls for Korea to export 'intelligence' to compete in AI era 

JEJU ISLAND — SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Friday called for Korea to shift from exporting products to exporting “intelligence” in the AI era, while expressing confidence in SK hynix shares amid surging demand for memory chips. 

“Korea must shift its strategy from exporting products to exporting intelligence,” Chey said during a session for the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s forum with Kwon Seok-joon, a professor at Sungkyunkwan University, held at The Shilla Jeju on Jeju Island on Friday.

Moderated by Lee Jae-wook, director of the AI Institute at Seoul National University, the session focused on the future of AI and new growth narratives for the Korean economy.

Chey characterized the AI rivalry between the United States and China as a contest between quality and cost.

“The United States is pouring enormous capital into developing the highest-performing AI, while China is focused on driving down the cost of tokens generated at AI data centers,” he said. “The United States is competing on quality, China on cost and China is rapidly narrowing the gap.”

He argued, however, that Korea should not attempt to compete on the same terms.

“It would be difficult for Korea to lower token costs to China's level, and there is little value in trying to match the United States in AI quality,” he said. “Instead, Korea should first build AI infrastructure and then target niche markets that neither the United States nor China is paying much attention to.”

Chey pointed to countries seeking an alternative to the United States and China as a key opportunity for Korean AI.

“We can export Korean AI applications, large language models and AI solutions to countries that find the influence of the United States and China burdensome,” he said. “Going forward, our strategy should be to export intelligence itself, not just memory chips.”

Chey also outlined what he described as the four essential muscles future talent will need: critical thinking, resilience in adapting to change, empathy and the ability to create value through physical activity.

“The people who will succeed are not those who simply possess a great deal of knowledge, but those who can solve problems,” he said.

He warned against relying too heavily on AI for thinking.

“The more people use AI, the more proficient they become at using it, but many stop thinking for themselves,” he said. “Outsourcing our thinking to AI could become a serious problem.” 

He added that education should shift away from simply inputting knowledge and toward developing human problem-solving skills.

Chey also predicted changes in corporate hiring practices, citing SK hynix's recent decision to eliminate its four-year college degree requirement for entry-level recruitment.

“The era when a university degree was essential is over,” he said. “Companies can certainly hire high school graduates and university students, and I expect to see more companies recruiting even younger talent in the future.”

He also predicted that AI agents would fundamentally reshape how companies operate.

“There will come a time when every employee has an AI agent,” he said. “The goal is not simply to reduce costs. Companies can grow only if they use the additional capacity created by AI to develop new businesses and generate new revenue.”

He added that organizations themselves would look very different as AI agents become more widespread. 

Chey also commented on SK hynix's stock performance, saying he remained optimistic over the long term because demand for memory chips would continue to grow.

“I think the stock will trend upward over the long run because demand for memory will continue to increase,” he said. “Rather than trying to trade in and out of the stock, it's better to hold it for the long term.”

Comparing AI to a growing child, he said memory demand would inevitably keep rising.

“AI is still like a child today, but as it grows into an adult, it will continue to require more memory,” he said. “Demand for memory will increase exponentially.” 

Chey was more cautious about the stock's short-term outlook.

“I don't know where the stock price will be next month,” he said. “The recent rally reflects expectations surrounding AI, and volatility could increase as those expectations are adjusted.”

BY PARK YOUNG-WOO [[email protected]]