South Korea aims for AI assistants in every citizen's daily life

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is embarking on an ambitious project to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) assistants into the daily lives of all citizens. This initiative is part of the government's broader goal to solidify South Korea's position as a global leader in AI technology.

Minister of Science and ICT, Bae Seok-joon, announced the plan during a press conference detailing the ministry's achievements over the past year since the current administration took office. He emphasized the ministry's success in laying the groundwork for South Korea to become one of the top three AI nations. A Stanford University report from April noted that South Korea ranked third globally in the number of notable AI models released in the previous year, significantly increasing its output from one model in 2024 to eight in 2023.

“

We are building a solid partnership with global big tech CEOs such as OpenAI, Nvidia, and Google, making our country a focus of global attention.

Bae highlighted the ministry's efforts in fostering international partnerships with major tech companies like OpenAI, Nvidia, and Google, positioning South Korea as a focal point for global AI development. He also pointed to the restoration of the research and development (R&D) ecosystem, which had faced challenges in previous years. The government significantly increased the R&D budget to a record 35.5 trillion won last year and introduced new scholarships for master's and doctoral students, attracting over 200 top international researchers in the first half of this year.

Further initiatives include expanding universal access to communication services. The MSIT has worked with major mobile carriers to extend the "data security option", which guarantees basic data usage even after exceeding the plan's limit, to all mobile plans, not just mid-to-high tier ones. The ministry plans to officially launch the "AI for Everyone" project this year, aiming to provide free access to independent AI models for all citizens, enabling them to use AI assistants for daily tasks, learning, and work.

“

We will push forward the 'AI for Everyone' project without a hitch within the year, so that all citizens can easily and conveniently use AI for free, like Korean language and arithmetic, and go on to work and learn with AI assistants.