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Foreign media question Korea’s capability in AI after R&D budget cuts
Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT Park Yun-kyu speaks during a policy forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT
By Park Jae-hyuk
Science and ICT ministry denies negative impact on innovation
The government’s plan to cut next year’s budget for state-sponsored scientific research activities has faced questions once again during a policy forum between the second vice science and ICT minister and foreign correspondents in Seoul, Friday.
The event was held to introduce Korea’s Digital Bill of Rights announced last month to urge the international community to collaborate for the humanitarian use of digital technologies, amid the deepening digitalization and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI).
However, after Vice Minister Park Yun-kyu described the bill as a charter to pursue a “digital society of mutual prosperity” through innovation and redistribution, multiple reporters asked him about the ministry’s stance on concerns that the planned budget cut may hinder the government’s ambitious plan.
Data given by state-run scientific research institutes to independent lawmaker Rep. Park Wan-joo showed that the government plans to slash next year’s budget for AI research by 28.4 percent to 68.4 billion won ($50 million) from 95.2 billion won this year.
Nature, one of the world’s top three scientific journals, also published an article on Thursday, covering Korean scientists’ protests against the budget cut. The publication came after another top journal, Science, and Nobel laureates expressed concerns over Korea’s future.
Magdalena Skipper, the editor-in-chief of Nature who attended a recent biotechnology symposium in Busan, also emphasized that it is unusual to reduce R&D spending, given that science projects should be handled from a long-term perspective.
However, the vice minister refuted the criticism, claiming that Korea’s R&D expenditures have been inefficient.
“We will continue state R&Ds for strategic sectors,” he said. “I feel sure that the budget will rebound in 2025 and 2026.”
Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT Park Yun-kyu introduces the Digital Bill of Rights to foreign correspondents in Korea, during a policy forum at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT
He was also optimistic about Korean AI companies’ competitiveness in the global market, in contrast to skepticism that Naver and Kakao have lagged far behind Microsoft and Google in the development of hyperscale and generative AI.
“The U.S. firms will not be able to monopolize the hyperscale AI market,” he said. “Korean AI firms will have competitiveness in non-native English speaking countries and in professional fields.”
Regarding environmental impacts of soaring electricity consumption to run AI and data centers, the vice minister said the Digital Bill of Rights includes an article calling for efforts to minimize digital technology’s effects on the environment.
He added that the government will come up with specific regulations on AI and other digital technologies, based on the Digital Bill of Rights, although the bill itself is non-binding.