New finance minister to lead Lee administration's AI initiative

Economy and Finance Minister nominee Koo Yun-cheol enters the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. buillding in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

By Lee Kyung-min

• Published Jun 30, 2025 4:15 PM KST
• Updated Jun 30, 2025 4:48 PM KST

Koo Yun-cheol, a nominee for the minister of economy and finance, is expected to lead the Lee Jae Myung administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives and foster the technology as the nation's main growth engine, according to government officials, Monday.

Koo, a former top budget planner at the Ministry of Economy and Finance who later served as minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, will likely place top priority on the economic transformation powered by AI in fiscal, tax, finance and industry policies — the only viable breakthrough to counter the country’s declining growth rate amid rapid aging.

According to the presidential committee for policy planning, the Ministry of Economy and Finance submitted a report on AI strategies last week. Central to the plan is an all-out AI transformation across economic, social and technological spheres.

The government seeks to bolster investments in capital-intensive infrastructure including data centers and power grids, thereby slowing down the pace of total factor productivity. It measures how efficiently an economy or business uses its inputs, including labor and capital, to produce output.

The finance ministry will focus on developing pan-government growth strategies for economic and social policies, coupled with the Ministry of Science and ICT's efforts to strengthen AI infrastructure building and the sovereign AI drive.

A detailed plan will be outlined for manufacturing, nonmanufacturing and public services.

The move will gain traction aided by private-sector AI experts, including former LG AI Research head Bae Kyung-hoon, the nominee for the science ministry. Another key figure is Ha Jung-woo, former head of Naver Cloud’s AI Innovation Center, who was appointed as senior presidential secretary for AI Future Planning.

The committee will establish a task force to oversee AI-related discussions across different subcommittees.

According to a report by the Bank of Korea, effective AI integration will translate into the country’s total factor productivity increase to 3.2 percent, up from 1.1 percent.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will in turn soar to 12.6 percent, up from 4.2 percent.

The report added that declines in labor supply brought on by rapid aging between 2023 and 2050 will be limited to 5.9 percent, significantly down from 16.5 percent.

The finance minister nominee, upon confirmation by the National Assembly, will lead the prompt implementation of the AI drive, boosting Korea’s growth to 3 percent.

In his book published early this month, Koo stressed that AI governance and regulations should take priority to ensure a healthy, sustainable coexistence between AI and human beings.

Among key objectives are developing AI technologies and the nurturing and training of AI talents, as well as AI-mediated productivity enhancements and lowering of costs in business, smart devices and government administrations.

“Most people see AI purely as a technology and often say, ‘I don’t really know much about it,'" he wrote. “That’s why we must pursue nationwide AI education and training in a manner that is both bold and aggressive.”

He also expects that global events will be hosted with the help of AI and that Korea can lead the global discussions on AI standards.