LEE'S 1ST YEAR IN OFFICE Gov't push for AI lays groundwork for businesses; tangible outcome yet to come
During his first year in office, President Lee Jae Myung pursued aggressive policy pushes to achieve his ambitious goal of elevating Korea as one of the world’s top three artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouses. The approach has drawn largely favorable responses from experts and industry officials, though they noted that key challenges remain over whether the administration can sustain the momentum throughout the remainder of Lee’s term and whether the policies can be implemented quickly and effectively enough to keep pace with the rapidly evolving landscape of the global AI industry. The Lee administration launched the Presidential Council on National AI Strategy in September 2025. For the past year, it helped the public and private sectors jointly secure 260,000 advanced graphics processing units (GPUs), while the country’s AI investment budget more than tripled from 3.3 trillion won in 2025 to 9.9 trillion won in 2026. The government also enacted the world's first comprehensive AI framework law in January and launched the national AI foundation model project to encourage compa
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