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Ex-vice culture minister wins AI jazz music award
Former Vice Culture Minister Yong Ho-seong / Joint Press Corps.
By Kim Se-jeong
Former Vice Culture Minister Yong Ho-seong won an artificial intelligence (AI) jazz music contest held in Montreux, Switzerland, on Friday (local time), according to the organizer.
Yong's composition, "Frozen Edge," took the top prize at the AI.LOVE.JAZZ, which was held alongside the Montreux Jazz Festival, one of the world's largest jazz festivals. This year marked the inaugural edition of the AI.LOVE. JAZZ competition.
Yong joined the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 1993 and served as first vice minister from 2024 to 2025 before retiring. Beyond his public service career, he is also known as a drummer and music critic.
After retiring, the former vice minister enrolled at SM Universe, an educational affiliate of SM Entertainment, to study AI-assisted music composition. Since then, he has devoted himself to creating music inspired by Shakespeare's 154 sonnets.
"Frozen Edge," inspired by Sonnet 97, explores the emptiness following a breakup, comparing the emotion to the biting cold of winter. He submitted three works to the competition and plans to release a series of albums.
Speaking with Yonhap News Agency, Yong said he used a couple of AI programs to generate the melody and vocals while writing the lyrics himself.
"Thanks to AI, I was able to start a new music career," Yong was quoted as saying. "I think this contest signals the beginning of AI transforming the way music is created."