Ministry of Science and ICT Leads 'One Team' for AI Transformation in Manufacturing and Industry... Accelerating AX Expansion

by Roh Kyungjo

Published 15 Oct.2025 11:03(KST)

Updated 15 Oct.2025 11:43(KST)

Three Key Ministries Join Forces for Manufacturing and Industrial AX
Manufacturing Task Force to Be Established Under the National AI Strategy Committee

The Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups have joined forces to accelerate the spread of AI Transformation (AX). With the Ministry of Science and ICT elevated as the national control tower for science and AI, the three ministries are forming a "one team" to support South Korea's leap into becoming a top three global AI powerhouse.


On the 15th, at the Science and Technology Advisory Committee meeting room in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the MOU signing ceremony for AX policy cooperation across industries was held. Attending the event were Han Seongsuk, Minister of SMEs and Startups (from the left), Bae Kyunghun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Lim Munyoung, Vice Chairman of the National AI Strategy Committee, and Kim Jeong-Kwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, taking a commemorative photo after signing the MOU. 2025.10.15 Photo by Yoon Dongju

On the 15th, at the Science and Technology Advisory Committee meeting room in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the MOU signing ceremony for AX policy cooperation across industries was held. Attending the event were Han Seongsuk, Minister of SMEs and Startups (from the left), Bae Kyunghun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Lim Munyoung, Vice Chairman of the National AI Strategy Committee, and Kim Jeong-Kwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, taking a commemorative photo after signing the MOU. 2025.10.15 Photo by Yoon Dongju

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Bae Kyunghoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Kim Jeonggwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Han Seongsuk, Minister of SMEs and Startups, signed a business agreement on the 15th at the National Science and Technology Advisory Council conference hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to officially support the successful spread of AX across all industries.


This agreement stems from a shared understanding that the government's active involvement is essential to encourage the application of AI in industries to create added value and secure national and corporate competitiveness, which has become increasingly important.


Specifically, the agreement supports: ▲ strengthening AX capabilities and internalizing core technologies across industries; ▲ facilitating AI technology commercialization for AI ventures, startups, as well as SMEs and small business owners, and developing field-customized AX technologies; ▲ building AX ecosystems centered on key regional industries; and ▲ ensuring the seamless implementation of national AI-related projects. In addition, the ministries will closely cooperate through technology exchange meetings among industry, academia, and research experts from each ministry.


The three ministries expect that this integrated cooperation structure will accelerate the spread of AX across industries and lay the groundwork for utilizing AI regardless of region or company size.


Bae Kyunghoon stated, "The AI transformation is more than just technological innovation-it is a national survival strategy that will determine our country's competitiveness and future prosperity. We must combine our manufacturing DNA with AI to achieve world-class technological capabilities, and to this end, the three ministries will work together as one team to implement consistent policies."


He added, "This agreement will serve as a critical turning point, accelerating the spread of AX across industries based on core AI technologies and infrastructure, and opening new global markets together with AI startups. The Ministry of Science and ICT will further accelerate the development and internalization of basic AI capabilities."


Kim Jeonggwan pledged to pursue organic and highly effective manufacturing AX policies. He emphasized, "To overcome the crises facing our industries-such as population decline, stagnant productivity, and technological competition from China-AI transformation is the only solution. To survive the race for speed, we must closely connect AI, data, and manufacturing sites, leveraging our strengths to achieve technological innovation and advance our manufacturing sector."


Han Seongsuk said, "In the era of AI transformation, SMEs and small business owners face even more urgent circumstances where survival is difficult without utilizing AI. This agreement will enable AI ventures and startups to seize new growth opportunities by leveraging government infrastructure and the AI technologies and experience of large corporations, while providing SMEs and small business owners with a crucial opportunity to secure future competitiveness."


Lim Munyoung, Vice Chairman of the National AI Strategy Committee, remarked, "AI is a core technology that fundamentally transforms our companies. To become a top three global AI powerhouse, it is essential to integrate AI with the expertise of each industrial domain. Building on this agreement among the three ministries, the committee will establish a manufacturing task force to focus on supporting AI-based industrial transformation going forward."

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