Director Hyungjun Ahn: "Coordinating Data Policies... Establishing Pan-Governmental Governance"

Pursuing a Basic Law Above Individual Ministry Data Regulations
"Creating a Map for AI to Navigate Statistics"

On December 11, Hyungjun Ahn, Director of the National Data Office, stated, "Overall, we will coordinate data policies that are divided among different ministries to ensure they do not conflict and can be implemented harmoniously."

Director Ahn made these remarks during a briefing at the Government Sejong Complex following a presidential work report on the same day. Regarding the National Data Office's report that it will pursue the enactment of the National Data Framework Act, he explained, "We are considering creating a basic law that covers all data."

Hyungjun Ahn, Director of the National Data Office, is reporting on ministry tasks at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Public Procurement Service) - National Data Office briefing held on the 11th at the Government Sejong Convention Center in Sejong City. Photo by Yonhap News

Director Ahn pointed out, "Since each agency-such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Personal Information Protection Commission-has its own data-related laws, there are essential elements that should be common to all data but are currently missing." He added, "The current individual data-related laws will be applied first as special laws, and the rest will be comprehensively covered by the basic law."

He also said, "Currently, there is no pan-governmental governance system," and added, "The basic law will include the establishment of a National Data Committee as a governance body to comprehensively coordinate and decide data policies across the government."

The National Data Office also presented new initiatives to enhance data utilization amid the spread of artificial intelligence (AI). One such initiative is to build AI-friendly metadata so that AI can easily read and interpret statistical data. Director Ahn stated, "Metadata will serve as a kind of 'map to statistics,' making it easier for generative AI to find and access statistical information."

Director Ahn further commented, "Until now, much emphasis has been placed on expanding AI and data, but moving forward, as a specialized group for data, we will support the public in fully utilizing data by maintaining a balanced focus on both quality and utilization."

Research on suicide and inequality statistics, which are pressing social issues, will also be promoted. Director Ahn said, "Although suicide statistics already exist, they only provide the number of suicides. We intend to link various economic and social databases to analyze and provide insights into the factors that contribute to suicide." He added, "Previously, we only looked at income-related inequality, but now we aim to examine indicators that can create inequality, such as assets, education, and health."

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