The Era of Artificial General Intelligence Begins... Ministry of Science and ICT Holds AI Future Strategy Meeting

The government has launched measures to secure top-tier artificial intelligence (AI) models and facilitate industrial transformation in preparation for the era of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

On the morning of August 27, 2026, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it had held the second Future Strategy Meeting on Science, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence at the President Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, under the theme "The Dawn of the AGI Era."

Baek Goon-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, is speaking at the Science and Technology Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on July 23, 2026. Photo by Jo Yongjun

The Future Strategy Meeting is a forum for identifying key agendas the government must prepare to proactively respond to future societal changes due to advances in science, technology, and AI, and to seek directions for related policies.

Unlike current AI, which excels in specific fields or for particular purposes, AGI refers to AI possessing general intelligence at or above human level across a variety of domains. Leading experts foresee the early to mid-2030s as the likely advent of AGI.

During the meeting, expert presentations were given in the order of securing technology and infrastructure, economic and industrial transformation, and social adaptation to prepare for the AGI era. Shin Jinwoo, Professor at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI at KAIST, spoke on "Strategies for Securing Top-Tier AI Models," emphasizing the need to expand computing infrastructure, secure more data, and increase investment in post-training. He also suggested that building a virtuous cycle where public sector use of domestic models leads to more training data would be essential.

Choi Kyungjin, Professor of Law at Gachon University, presented on "Designing Laws and Institutions for the Era of Token Economy," assessing that standards for distributing the costs and responsibilities arising from the AI transformation must be designed in advance. He also proposed that the business sector, labor sector, and government should jointly participate through legal and institutional frameworks. Kim Hyuncheol, Professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, spoke on "AGI and Society: The Three Changing Markets of AI," outlining changes in the labor, healthcare, and education markets and stressing the need to protect youth employment and improve medical and educational systems.

The subsequent open discussion addressed government response strategies and the impact of AGI on various industries.

Paik Kyunghoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, stated, "Competition to secure top-tier AI models is becoming increasingly fierce, and the pace of AI development is accelerating exponentially. The advent of the AGI era is not a matter of if, but when, so now is the time for us to consider how we will prepare in terms of technology, infrastructure, and systems."

He further stressed, "AGI is expected to have such enormous disruptive power that it will not only revolutionize individual technologies and industries, but also fundamentally reshape the entire national system and our way of life. Therefore, we must prepare not only for economic and industrial changes, but also for paradigm shifts throughout society, including in the areas of labor, welfare, and education."

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