Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
K-water turns to AI in setting up Asia-wide water cooperation platform
K-water CEO Yun Seog-dae presides over the 24th Board Meeting of the Asia Water Council in Manila, Monday. Courtesy of K-water
By Jung Min-ho
Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) is tapping the Asia Water Council, the region’s water cooperation platform, to accelerate the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for water management and pave the way for Korean firms to expand into regional markets.
As the council’s chair organization, K-water strengthened Asian collaboration networks to create more partnership opportunities for Korean water companies during a board meeting held in the Philippines from Monday to Tuesday.
Asia’s demand for innovative water management is rising rapidly amid population growth, urbanization, the climate crisis and the need to upgrade aging infrastructure. The council is the largest water cooperation body in the region, currently bringing together more than 180 member organizations from 27 countries.
K-water used a corporate technology expo held Monday to showcase domestic firms’ water management technologies and real-world applications to officials from governments, public agencies and businesses. Among the participating companies were those offering AI- and big data-based leak detection systems that pinpoint hidden pipe bursts, and smart sensors that monitor water use in real time.
K-water designated 2026 as the first year of AI transformation in water management and is working to widen its international reach with newly developed solutions, including a digital twin water management platform and AI-powered water treatment plants.
As part of the effort, K-water CEO Yun Seog-dae held meetings with high-ranking officials of various Asian governments. On Monday he met with Philippine lawmaker Salvador Pleyto and others to discuss challenges and potential areas of cooperation.
The results of the meetings will be used to explore future agendas and create opportunities for technology exchange in water management across the region, K-water officials said.
K-water’s latest outreach also feeds into preparations for the 4th Asia International Water Week, the Asia Water Council’s key forum for sharing solutions to global water challenges and aligning policy, technology and industry agendas. The event is scheduled to be held in the Philippines next year.
“Asia is emerging as a key market where demand for innovative water management is rising rapidly, and solutions that draw on AI and digital technologies are becoming increasingly important,” Yun said.
“By using the Asia Water Council as a central cooperation platform, we will strengthen Asia’s water cooperation architecture and, together with Korean water firms, lay the foundation for overseas expansion of AI water management technologies.”