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Korean president calls for ‘responsible use' of AI at UN Security Council

Published: 25 Sep. 2025, 07:20 Updated: 25 Sep. 2025, 18:32

SARAH KIM
[email protected]

President Lee Jae Myung, center, presides over an open debate of the UN Security Council on AI at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 24. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

NEW YORK — President Lee Jae Myung urged the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) to contribute to international peace and security as he presided over a UN Security Council open debate in New York on Wednesday.

"The Republic of Korea, as a responsible global power, is committed to leading international cooperation to ensure that AI becomes a tool for building a sustainable future for humanity," Lee said at the Security Council chamber in New York.

Lee became the first South Korean president to chair an open debate of the 15-member Security Council. He was on a five-day trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly's 80th session.

"If used well, AI could be a powerful instrument for preventing conflict and maintaining peace, such as by monitoring the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction [WMDs]," Lee said.

He pointed out that AI is strengthening accuracy and precision across the military domain, including in intelligence, surveillance and logistics, while leading innovation in operational efficiency and command systems.

Lee chaired the session, as South Korea assumed the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of September. South Korea has been serving as a non-permanent member of the council for a two-year term since last year and has held the presidency five times since joining the United Nations in 1991.

The five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

President Lee Jae Myung presides over an open debate of the UN Security Council on AI at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 24. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Lee, seated at the Security Council president's chair, next to UN Secretary General António Guterres, struck the gavel to officially begin the high-level open debate, calling to order the 10,005th meeting of the Security Council. He presided over the agenda covering "artificial intelligence and international peace and security" and gave an address on the issue.

"To turn the changes of the AI era — where light and shadow coexist — into opportunities, it is essential for the international community to unite and uphold the principle of 'responsible use of AI,'" Lee said.

Lee highlighted that if used properly, AI can help overcome challenges like low growth and high prices, open a new path to prosperity and providing solutions to various problems in areas such as health, food and education.

However, he warned that lack of proper preparation, could trigger an extreme technological divide through a "Silicon Curtain" surpassing the Cold War era's "Iron Curtain," aggravating global inequality and imbalance.

If AI becomes a threat to humanity, it would reflect society's "failure to establish common global norms," Lee said.

"This tiger cub before us may well grow into a predator that devours us, or it may become a beloved companion like Derpy from 'KPop Demon Hunters,'" Lee said, referring to the hit Netflix animated film.

Lee encouraged governments, academia, industry and the civil society to join together and draw on collective wisdom to bring innovation toward "AI for all" and "inclusive and human-centric AI."

AI could contribute to the swift delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need, he said.

However, it could also lead to disinformation, surging terrorism and cyberattacks. An AI-driven arms race could deepen instability in security, Lee added.

President Lee Jae Myung speaks an open debate of the UN Security Council open debate on AI at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 24. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Last year, South Korea, with the Netherlands, tabled the first-ever UN General Assembly resolution on AI in the military domain and hosted the Responsible Military Use of AI (REAIM) Summit in Seoul.

At the AI Seoul Summit held in May 2024, South Korea adopted the "Seoul Declaration," which outlined three guiding visions of safety, innovation and inclusion.

As the chair of APEC summit in Gyeongju, South Korea is also promoting the adoption of the APEC AI Initiative to ensure that AI innovation contributes to the prosperity of humanity.

Lee stressed that South Korea is striving to establish an "AI universal basic society," where everyone benefits from technological advancements.

"Let us turn the changes brought by AI into a springboard for humanity to make a renewed leap forward," Lee said.

President Lee Jae Myung gives a press briefing ahead of an open debate of the UN Security Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 24. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

"AI is no longer a distant horizon — it is here, transforming daily life, the information space and the global economy at breathtaking speed," Guterres said at the high-level debate. "The question is not whether AI will influence international peace and security, but how we will shape that influence."

He set out four priorities for governments: maintaining human control over the use of force, building coherent global regulatory frameworks, protecting information integrity and closing the "AI capacity gap" between rich and poor nations.

Guterres called for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems operating without human control and underscored that decisions on nuclear weapons "must rest with humans, not machines."

"This is the first time a South Korean leader has presided over a Security Council meeting as its president,” Lee told reporters in a short briefing ahead of the Security Council session. "It is especially meaningful to be chairing the first-ever public debate on AI for all UN member states."

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]