Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister, "It's Time to Make Data and AI the 'Rice' of Korean Industry"

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance. (File photo)

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated on the 10th, "Just as semiconductors were once called the rice of Korean industry, it is now time to make data and AI (artificial intelligence) the rice of Korean industry."

On this day, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said through Facebook, "The revision of the so-called Data 3 Act provides a very encouraging opportunity to utilize data, the core resource of the 4th Industrial Revolution, more valuably and safely."

The day before, the Data 3 Act, including the 'Information and Communications Network Act,' 'Personal Information Protection Act,' and 'Credit Information Protection Act,' passed the National Assembly plenary session. Accordingly, pseudonymized information that has been 'de-identified' so that the subject of the information cannot be recognized can now be used for statistical compilation, scientific research, and public interest record preservation purposes without the consent of the information subject.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "Without high-quality data, it is difficult to develop excellent AI, and the growth of related industries such as 5G, cloud, and the Internet of Things also faces challenges," adding, "In the future, it is expected that customized service development and new business creation will be possible through data convergence and fusion across various industries, including the financial sector, smart cities, and healthcare."

He also promised government-level policy support. Deputy Prime Minister Hong emphasized, "The government will spare no policy support to maximize the effects of the law revision," and added, "We will also promote substantial policy support measures to ensure that a private-sector-led data economy ecosystem is established and activated as soon as possible." He further stated, "In particular, we plan to actively support the prompt approval of adequacy assessments to ensure that Korean companies operating in the European Union (EU) do not suffer damage or burdens due to the application of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation."

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