Deputy Prime Minister Baek Kyunghoon on AI Speed Moderation: "We Do Not Have the Luxury to Slow Down"

"It Is Different for Leading Nations to Moderate Speed Than for Catch-Up Countries to Slow Down"
Stresses the Importance of Securing VLAs and Frontier-Level AI Models
"We Will Build an AI Nation That Is Both Fast and Safe"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Kyung-hoon has drawn a clear line regarding the recently raised “AI speed moderation” debate in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry. He emphasized that, as Korea aims to become a global top three AI powerhouse, the nation must narrow the technology gap and is not in a position to slow down its own pace.

On September 16, Deputy Prime Minister Baek stressed in a post on his social media account, “We do not have the luxury to slow down the pace of AI right now.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Gung-hoon is delivering opening remarks at the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT - Telecom CEOs Meeting held at the SKT Head Office in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 23rd. July 23, 2026. Photo by Cho Yongjun

He noted that this was not the first time the idea of controlling the speed of AI development had come up, but pointed out, “It is an entirely different matter for a country that is already ahead to moderate its speed, compared to a country that needs to both catch up and create new markets while lowering its own pace.”

Deputy Prime Minister Baek went on to say, “We need to broaden the technological scope beyond just creating our own large language model (LLM)-based AI foundation models. We must expand to include models like vision language models (VLMs) and vision language action models (VLAs) that can actually perceive, understand, and act in industrial settings.” He continued, “We need to prepare for an era where AI is deeply integrated into all industries and the daily lives of our people.”

He also highlighted that securing AI models at a global frontier level remains a major task. Deputy Prime Minister Baek said, “From now on, the gap between countries that possess cutting-edge AI capabilities close to artificial general intelligence (AGI) and those that do not will not be limited to just a technological gap.” He emphasized, “It could affect industrial competitiveness, the economy, security, and ultimately the future competitiveness of the nation itself.”

However, he also stressed the need for legal and institutional mechanisms to ensure the safe use of AI. He said, “The faster AI develops, the faster we must prepare for safety and trust.” He continued, “We need to step hard on the accelerator for AI research, development, and industrial applications, but also ensure that we have functioning brakes in place for risks.” He added that Korea is building a foundation of trust based on the AI Framework Act, the world’s first legal regime for AI, which the country enacted.

Deputy Prime Minister Baek stated, “Speed is competitiveness, and safety is sustainability. This is not a matter of choosing one or the other.” He emphasized, “The path Korea must take is to become an AI nation that can go faster while ensuring greater safety.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Baek also mentioned that he will release the direction for the independent AI foundation model (Dokpamo) project, which is about to undergo its third stage evaluation, as well as for the development of frontier AI models. “Soon, I will share with the public the next stage for Dokpamo, which has been carefully considered so far, as well as the development direction for Korea’s frontier AI models,” he said.

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