Kim Yongbum: "Korea Should Build a 'Public Operating System' to Connect the World, Not Just Chase US-China AI Rivalry"

"Korea Has the Conditions to Lead an International Alliance for Public Service AI"

Sovereign AI Is Not Just a 'Domestic Model', but a 'Non-Subordinated Alternative to Big Tech'

Linking ODA, Development Banks, and Data Centers... "Transformin

Kim Yongbeom, policy chief at the Blue House, proposed that South Korea should shift its national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy from simply following the technology hegemony race between the United States and China to designing a 'public AI operating system' in which middle-power and developing countries also participate. Rather than competing head-on with the U.S. and China over model performance or domestic market size, he envisions building an international cooperation model that applies AI to public services such as healthcare, education, and administration, and linking this to South Korea’s AI data centers and industrial ecosystem.

Kim Yongbeom, policy chief, is giving a preliminary briefing on the U.S. and South America tour at the Blue House press conference room on the 22nd. July 22, 2026 [Photo by Blue House Press Photographers] Yonhap News Agency

On the night of the 22nd, Kim posted on Facebook an article entitled “The State Connects the World in the AI Era” in which he stated, “Even in the AI era, the truly important task is not competition for technological rankings, but creating the operating system by which the world functions.” He had previously argued that, in the age of AI, the state should actively organize the market and production relations, going beyond a simple role as industrial supporter, and now expands this application to international cooperation and AI diplomacy strategy.

Kim highlighted that while South Korea may be somewhat off the very center of the global AI hegemony competition, it remains an indispensable country with core semiconductor technologies—including high-bandwidth memory (HBM)—that are difficult to replace. He also pointed out that realistically, with a domestic market of only 50 million people, it is extremely hard for South Korea to match the scale of data and capital of the U.S. and China.

Kim emphasized, “We should shift our strategy away from focusing on how to win alone, and instead figure out how to build a field in which we move together,” analyzing that, “Middle-power countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan also have markets too small to support independent AI ecosystems, and if they depend entirely on global big tech companies, they become trapped in a dilemma of inevitable technological dependency.”

He also noted that the strategy of global big tech companies in providing public-sector AI services free of charge to governments for a certain period is not simply support, but a calculated move to preempt the market. Once a particular company’s AI standard is embedded into healthcare, education, or administration systems, the cost of switching grows, and in the long run, it fosters dependence on that ecosystem. Kim warned, “From the standpoint of each individual country, saving money immediately may seem rational, but if every country makes the same choice, they all become absorbed as subordinate parts of large ecosystems,” and described this as “a structure where each rational decision aggregates into collective dependence.”

As an alternative, Kim proposed that South Korea develop and operate AI applications for the public service sector, forming a multilateral coalition so other countries can adapt these models to their own circumstances. While the U.S. excels in platforms, China in infrastructure, and Europe in regulatory competition, he views the public service AI market—in areas like healthcare, education, and administration, which require complex laws, regulations, and social trust—as one where there is no dominant player yet. Kim explained, “If South Korea accumulates examples of addressing regional medical gaps, educational inequality, and complex administrative procedures with AI, it can establish practical standards that will be valuable to other countries facing similar challenges.”

"South Korea Has an Independent Digital Ecosystem and the Trust of Non-Hegemonic Countries"

He cited South Korea’s independent digital ecosystem and its reputation as a non-hegemonic country as the foundation for leading such international cooperation. Pointing out that South Korea has preserved its domestic ecosystem in search, messenger, and e-commerce despite the onslaught of global platforms, he argued that sovereign AI should not stop at merely developing domestic AI models. Kim defined sovereign AI as “a structure in which, while utilizing global technology as needed, one always retains the option to choose alternatives and never becomes locked into a single ecosystem.”

He also evaluated that the fact South Korea lacks the hegemonic power to pressure other countries is not a weakness, but a safety net for cooperation. Thanks to the cultural appeal of the Korean Wave and its own transformation from developing to advanced country, South Korea can present models that don’t threaten its partners but are still worthy of reference. For specific cooperation partners, he suggested countries such as Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, which possess unique languages and systems.

Kim insisted, nevertheless, that data sovereignty must remain with each respective country and any jointly developed model should be jointly owned. Rather than unilaterally transferring or collecting data, technology assistance must ensure personal data protection and an equitable share structure to prevent aid from becoming a new form of exploitation. In the early stages, financing should make use of Official Development Assistance (ODA), eventually transitioning to risk sharing by development banks, co-investment by South Korean enterprises and local partners, and gradually shifting toward service fees based on usage.

He also emphasized that the gigawatt (GW)-level AI data centers under development in Korea can be a key foundation of this international cooperation strategy. By allowing partner countries to utilize Korea’s computational resources instead of building their own costly data centers, they secure the computing power required for AI development, while South Korea creates stable overseas demand for its data centers. Kim forecast that, if this structure becomes established, the data and public service experience of developing countries will further sophisticate South Korea’s AI systems, and those advanced systems will, in turn, attract computational demand from partners—creating a virtuous cycle. He analyzed, “Helping others becomes our competitiveness, and the limitation of a 50 million-person market is transformed into a vast ecosystem spanning dozens of countries.”

Meanwhile, Kim stressed that, in order to implement this international strategy, AI, industry, and foreign policy—which are currently scattered across the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, fiscal authorities, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—must be integrated first. He remarked, “A country trying to organize how the world operates must first be able to organize itself efficiently,” and that the government, corporations, startups, researchers, and data center operators must be unified under one national strategy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.