The Future of Mobile Communication is AI... SKT Yoo Young-sang: "It Will Revolutionize 21st Century Industries"

40th Anniversary of Korea's Mobile Communication Since 1G in 1984
Industry, Experts, and Government Say "AI is the Direction of ICT"

As South Korea's mobile telecommunications service marks its 40th anniversary, Yoo Young-sang, President of SK Telecom, emphasized artificial intelligence (AI) as the direction the current information and communication technology (ICT) industry should take.

Participants are taking a commemorative photo at the "40th Anniversary of Mobile Communications in Korea Forum" held on the 5th at the Baekyang Nuri Grand Ballroom, Yonsei University Seoul Campus. Photo by Bareun ICT Research Institute

At the Korea Mobile Telecommunications 40th Anniversary Commemorative Forum held on the 5th at Yonsei University Seoul Campus Baekyangnuri Grand Ballroom, Yoo Young-sang, President of SK Telecom, stated in his congratulatory speech, "Looking back on 40 years of history, just as electricity completely transformed the economy and daily life in the 20th century, AI will comprehensively innovate industries and lifestyles in the 21st century."

He continued, "SKT, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, will leverage the capabilities and assets accumulated so far to leap forward as a 'global AI company,' contributing to the revival of Korean industry and realizing a new mission to lead 'AI powerhouse South Korea.'"

Korean mobile telecommunications marked its 40th anniversary this year since the launch of voice-based 1G (AMPS) mobile telecommunications service in 1984. It has since evolved through 2G (CDMA), 3G (WCDMA), 4G (LTE), and now 5G (5G NR). While the 1G era was limited to voice-based services, the 5G era now enables services including virtual reality and holograms. The predecessor of SK Telecom, the wireless communication service dedicated organization 'Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service,' was established in 1984.

As President Yoo mentioned, the technology that industry, government, and academic experts are focusing on as the direction for the ICT industry is 'AI.' Kim Kyung-man, Director of Telecommunications Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, mentioned AI policy alongside strengthening competition in the telecommunications market and next-generation network (6G) policy as part of the ICT policy direction. Director Kim stated, "Three policy initiatives are necessary: the full-scale spread of AI in daily life, advancement of innovative AI infrastructure, and expansion of global AI partnerships," outlining specific directions.

Participants are engaged in a discussion at the "40th Anniversary of Mobile Communications in Korea Forum" held on the 5th at the Baekyangnuri Grand Ballroom, Yonsei University Seoul Campus. Photo by Hwang Seoyul chestnut@

Baek Yong-soon, Director of the Immersive Communication Research Center at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), said, "There are various core technologies required for future 6G configuration, and AI is at the foundation. AI applied to telecommunications (networks) must achieve 99.9% accuracy, so the development of AI related to telecommunications is extremely important."

Kim Jung-eon, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Information Society Development Institute, emphasized policies necessary for AX (AI Transformation), including ▲building data such as public data and ▲establishing AI semiconductor infrastructure. Kim said, "From the perspective that developing large language models (LLM) is essential, high-quality large-scale data training is important," adding, "Although there may be copyright issues, if mechanisms are well established, these can be somewhat resolved." Regarding AI semiconductor development, he noted, "Demand for (AI semiconductors) is rapidly increasing domestically and internationally to capture the generative AI market," and added, "Active and continuous policies such as advancing domestic AI semiconductors and fostering collaborative ecosystems seem necessary."

Professor Kwon Nam-hoon of Konkuk University's Department of Economics advised, "To compete with global big tech companies in ultra-large language models (LLM), obstacles hindering AI applications must be removed, and telecommunications operators should go beyond telecommunications by integrating with AI to become facilitators of AI transformation in B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors."

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