President Lee must go all-In on AI to build a sustainable ecosystem

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President Lee must go all-In on AI to build a sustainable ecosystem

Published: 21 Jul. 2025, 00:01

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Choi Hoon

The author is the senior columnist at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Here's a quiz: when was the following poem written?

“I imagine a cybernetic meadow where mammals and computers live together in mutually programming harmony.
I imagine a cybernetic forest filled with pine trees and electronics where deer stroll peacefully past computers.
I imagine a cybernetic ecology where we are free of our labors and joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters, watched over by machines of loving grace.”

Was it 2007, 1997, 1987, or 1967?

The answer: 1967. The poem, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace,” was written by Richard Brautigan during a hippie gathering in San Francisco, capturing the imagination of a generation that rejected conventional culture. Its vision — of a harmonious ecosystem of humans, animals, and machines — was decades ahead of its time. IBM released its first PC only in 1981. Yet Brautigan had already envisioned a world of interconnected systems, erasing boundaries between species and devices. That same spirit of freedom, transparency, and collaboration carried through the Beat and hippie movements and ultimately inspired figures like Steve Jobs.

President Lee Jae Myung attends an opening ceremony fpr an AI data center in Ulsan at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center on June 20. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The same drive animated Mark Zuckerberg’s creation of Facebook. His idea of a “borderless world” was rooted in imagination and the desire for unfettered connection. The common thread in all major technological revolutions — from the PC to social media to today's AI — is clear: freedom. No meaningful innovation has ever emerged overnight, and certainly not without it. Now the world stands at the threshold of another massive shift: the age of artificial intelligence.

The Lee Jae Myung administration has made AI a clear national priority, as reflected in its early appointments. Former Naver Future AI Center head Ha Jung-woo was named Chief of Future AI Strategy; Baek Kyung-hoon, head of LG AI Research, was nominated for Minister of Science and ICT; Han Seong-sook, former CEO of Naver, was tapped for SME Minister; and Choi Hwi-young of NHN was nominated for Minister of Culture and Sports. These appointments signaled ambition — but their success depends on whether the government can foster an ecosystem that enables these experts to work freely.

That is the real challenge. Deep-seated bureaucratic resistance and political gridlock remain obstacles. Korea’s collective trauma around failed reform is fresh. Former Bell Labs executive Kim Jong-hoon, nominated as science minister under President Park Geun-hye, withdrew after only two weeks, citing the toxic political climate. “I realized quickly that in Korea, a political fight isn’t over until someone bleeds,” he said. “I was naïve to think I could work for the country.”

Ha Jung-woo, head of Naver's AI Innovation Center, speaks during a briefing on senior appointments at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, on June 15 after being named Chief of Future AI Strategy. [NEWS1]

Last year, Korea recorded the fourth-highest AI talent outflow among OECD countries. Even the experts we train are choosing to leave. Lee Geun-myeon, former head of the Ministry of Personnel Management, has warned that unless Korea nurtures a fertile ecosystem, its AI ambitions will wither. He points to the country’s rigid 52-hour workweek as a major hurdle. “AI innovation requires long, competitive hours. In Taiwan, TSMC engineers can work 24/7 through labor agreements and proper compensation. How can we match that with civil servants and a handful of experts in Yongsan?”

The very traits that propelled young Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg to success — long hours, relentless creativity, non-traditional work habits — would likely violate Korea’s labor laws. Lee has gone as far as to call for an “AI Special Law” to override existing legal barriers.

Bureaucratic culture poses a deeper problem. Risk-averse public officials now fear accusations of abuse of power, and even elite roles in the presidential office are increasingly shunned. In contrast, Silicon Valley succeeded partly because it operated far from Washington. That distance protected it from overregulation and political meddling.

In 1996, former Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow — himself a hippie — published the “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace,” envisioning the internet as a world of freedom and openness, free from control. That spirit of open-source collaboration has been foundational to digital innovation. But if Korean bureaucrats insist on applying rigid rules to AI, they risk smothering the very energy needed for success.

xAI Grok chatbot and ChatGPT logos are seen in this illustration taken, March 11, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The task for President Lee and Prime Minister Kim is clear: eliminate outdated regulations, build legislative support, and actively recruit private-sector and international experts into top government posts. Opening 30 percent of senior AI-related positions to outside talent should be the minimum. There is no reason why Korea should not appoint a Vice Prime Minister for AI to lead this transformation.

Failure to build a robust AI ecosystem would relegate Korea to the role of a digital colony — paying for access to others’ technology while surrendering its data and talent. If President Lee hopes to be remembered as an “AI president,” time is running out. The only option now is to go all-in.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.