[2026 Audit] Bae Kyunghoon: "Dokpamo Will Continue... Frontier AI to Address Cyber Security"

Amid concerns that the independent Artificial Intelligence (AI) foundation model project might be discontinued, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyunghoon firmly reiterated that the development initiative for the Indigenous AI Foundation Model (“Dokpamo”) will continue as originally planned. The government will separately promote the development of “Frontier AI” to strengthen cyber security capabilities.

On the morning of October 6th, at the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit, Deputy Prime Minister Bae responded to a related question from Assemblyman Park Jungha of the People Power Party, affirming, “The Dokpamo project is ongoing,” and adding, “Dokpamo has been promoted to expand its use in industrial and public sectors and to develop a model at the global standard.”

Bae Kyunghoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, is taking the witness oath at the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s audit held on the 6th. Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the Dokpamo project, Deputy Prime Minister Bae stated, “We have completed the second phase of evaluation and are entering the third phase,” noting, “Through the second evaluation, Korea is solidifying its position as the world’s third-leading AI power.” In the previous second phase evaluation, Motif Technologies was eliminated, and three consortiums—Upstage, LG AI Research, and SK Telecom—advanced to the third phase evaluation.

Deputy Prime Minister Bae pointed out that the results of the second phase place Korea at an intermediate global level, emphasizing, “For the third phase, our goal is to develop a model comparable to the open-weight models used globally.”

However, he stressed that the Frontier AI initiative must be promoted alongside Dokpamo as a separate effort. Deputy Prime Minister Bae explained, “The criteria we set last year are now evolving distinctly compared to this year,” adding, “With the U.S. government’s announcement of Super Intelligence (SI), we are now planning Frontier models that surpass previously-set targets.”

One of the main reasons for developing Frontier AI models, aside from Dokpamo, is to respond to cyber security challenges. Deputy Prime Minister Bae stated, “While Dokpamo will proceed as planned, I believe that Frontier AI is additionally needed to tackle previously unsolvable human challenges and cyber security issues, and such related projects are being newly added.”

Regarding the background for promoting the Frontier AI project, which will inject a budget of 4.7 trillion won, Bae explained, “We held extensive discussions with government authorities. In the aftermath of the Mythos shock, we deliberated whether it would be possible to secure AI capable of responding to cyber security threats. We determined that with the current level of Dokpamo, it is difficult to achieve the required level of AI for industrial and public use.”

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