New AI policy chief warns of export control risks, vows push for homegrown AI

Ha Jung-woo, the recently appointed standing vice chairman of the Presidential Council on National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS), cautioned on Monday that South Korea must persist in cultivating its own AI capabilities to safeguard against potential export controls on advanced AI models. Speaking at a press conference to announce his new role, Ha highlighted that export restrictions on high-level frontier AI models could emerge at any moment, pointing to the June export control imposed on Anthropic's Mythos 5 model, which generated apprehension that cutting-edge AI tools had become strategic assets.

"Disparities in access to leading AI models could result in gaps in national capabilities," Ha warned. "Whether it's the ongoing national foundation model project or other initiatives, Korea needs to maintain its own capabilities to develop frontier AI models." Ha's remarks follow the national foundation model project, a program aimed at generating domestically developed frontier-level AI models using locally created technology, which continues to face scrutiny over its progress.