Government Launches National Development Strategy for 2045: Toward an “Irreplaceable Korea”

The government has begun developing a mid- to long-term national development strategy with the goal of celebrating the 100th anniversary of Liberation in 2045, focusing on core tasks such as securing competitiveness in artificial intelligence (AI), stabilizing the power supply, and establishing technological and national security sovereignty.

On August 12, the government held the 2nd meeting of the Republic of Korea 2045 Strategy Planning Committee at the Government Seoul Office, presided over by Prime Minister Han Seongsook. During the meeting, they discussed the "2045 Republic of Korea Future Vision and National Strategy," as well as the progress and future plans for public engagement. The committee was launched in May to develop a mid- to long-term national development strategy in response to complex structural crises such as demographic shifts, polarization, and the transition to AI.

During the meeting, the National Future Strategy Research Committee of the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences presented a 2045 future vision themed "The Path to Becoming an Innovative Leading Nation." The research committee diagnosed that Korea is currently facing a "double bottleneck"—characterized by high input but low transformation, where world-class technological capabilities fail to translate into tangible outcomes ("high-investment, low-conversion"), and by weak social consensus despite high capabilities ("high-capacity, low-legitimacy").

Prime Minister Han Sung-sook is speaking at the 2nd meeting of the Republic of Korea 2045 Strategy Planning Committee held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 12th. Photo by Yonhap News.

Accordingly, the committee proposed pursuing both an innovation-driven transformation by combining three major megaprojects—semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI—with balanced national development, and a social transformation that guarantees a basic standard of living for all citizens. The presented 2045 future vision is for Korea to become an “innovative leading nation.”

Feedback collected by the Public Communication Team from the general public, youth, and experts identified 17 priority areas for mid- to long-term urgent response, including strengthening AI competitiveness and its spread, enhancing power supply stability, and establishing sovereignty over strategic technology and national security. Other major tasks highlighted include pension, welfare, and care reforms tailored to an aging society, restructuring the industrial workforce training system, and expanding access to jobs for young people.

Participants in the meeting agreed on the need to prioritize and focus policy capabilities on the key domains within the national system—such as education, labor, technology, industry, security, and welfare—that require urgent improvements.

Prime Minister Han stated, “The 2045 National Development Strategy must not be a government-only strategy, but one developed in partnership with all citizens.” She added, “As we approach the 100th anniversary of Liberation in 2045, we will identify future-oriented, bold, and ambitious tasks so that Korea can truly become an ‘irreplaceable nation’ in every respect.” The government plans to continue gathering input through additional public contests, joint seminars, and in-depth interviews, and—together with relevant ministries—will materialize the core tasks and announce the “2045 National Development Strategy” before the end of the year.

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