Norway courts Korea on AI, security as rules-based order frays

Norway wants closer cooperation with Korea on AI and security as major powers, including the United States, turn away from the international rules both countries rely on, the Scandinavian nation's vice foreign minister said.

“We’re seeing some very prominent countries attaching less importance to these institutions and to the law than in the past,” Norwegian Vice Foreign Minister Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Norwegian Embassy on Wednesday. “It’s clear that the United States is one of those countries.”

He added that Russia’s war in Ukraine is a “blatant violation” of international law.

“They’re not even pretending to be operating in compliance with the international law,” he said.

Defense cooperation has grown quickly. In January, Norway signed a contract worth about $922 million for 16 Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers from Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, following earlier purchases of K9 self-propelled howitzers.

“It’s a strategic decision for us to partner with South Korea in this domain,” Kravik said, pointing to the cost, effectiveness and reliability of Korean defense systems. “So all in all, it’s very logical for us to purchase these types of systems from South Korea.”

The two countries have also competed.

In July, Canada picked a German-Norwegian consortium over Korea’s Hanwha Ocean as the preferred bidder for its next-generation submarine program.

Kravik said such rivalry “is fine between friends and partners and allies,” adding that “through that competition, you develop better systems.”

AI was a main focus of his short trip to Korea. 

Kravik visited the Korea AI Safety Institute and attended a dinner reception hosted by the Norwegian Embassy on Wednesday evening that brought together AI experts, researchers, policymakers and industry leaders.

In April, the embassies of Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden co-hosted the Nordic+Korea Innovation Days 2026 in Seoul, themed on human-AI collaboration.

Kravik described Korea as a country committed to “democracy, rule of law, international law, multilateralism” that is also “a cutting-edge actor" in new industries such as AI.

He said Oslo came to Seoul "to offer our insights, but also to learn."

Norway has been pushing for global rules on AI.

On Sept. 21, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb launched a declaration calling for AI to stay under human control and for countries to consider creating an international body to set standards and verify compliance.

Twenty countries and the European Union signed it, but Korea, along with the United States and China, did not.

Kravik said national rules alone will fall short.

“Even if Norway were to put in place cutting-edge, excellent safeguards, if we do that on our own, it’s not going to amount to much, because this technology can be deployed in other countries,” he said.

"Countries such as South Korea and Norway and others are making it very clear that there needs to be safeguards around this technology," he added. "And those safeguards need to be anchored in some international instrument and institution."

President Lee Jae Myung and Store held their first summit in July on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. The two countries also plan to upgrade relations.

“President Lee and Prime Minister Store have agreed that we should move towards a strategic partnership,” Kravik said, adding that Store hopes to visit Korea “in the not too distant future.”

BY SEO JI-EUN   [[email protected]]