At the '2026 Korean Economic Association Executive Jeju Summer Forum' which concluded today (18th) at the Lotte Hotel Jeju, Ha Jung-woo, former Senior Secretary for AI Future Planning at the Blue House, defined the AI era as both a crisis of 'employment decline' and 'nuclear weapon-grade export controls' as well as an opportunity for Korea, a 'memory semiconductor powerhouse,' to lead, capturing the attention of about 400 business executives with his bold proposal to invest surplus tax revenue in youth and regional development.
At his lecture on the final day of the three-night, four-day forum, the former senior secretary strongly warned about the social impact that AI technological advancement will bring. He predicted 'jobless growth' due to AI and a deepening of 'K-shaped polarization,' and emphasized that the government's surplus tax revenue should not only focus on developing future food sources but should also boldly invest in 'youth generation growth' and 'regional development,' which will face the direct blow of employment decline.
Furthermore, the former senior secretary drew an analogy between AI and 'nuclear weapons' to forecast changes in the international order. He stated, "AI will be managed like nuclear weapons," and warned that powerful AI technology is likely to become an 'export control target' internationally. In preparation, he emphasized "the nation must secure at least one outstanding AI," stressing the urgency of securing a national-level 'sovereign AI.'
Despite such crises, he highly evaluated Korea's AI competitiveness. He reminded the audience that Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had previously mentioned that 'Korea's talented people can create great AI,' and explained that Korea has many AI strengths, including being the world's number one producer and exporter of memory semiconductors and having the world's third-ranked foundation model competitiveness.
