Baek Kong-hoon: "Korea Should Develop AI Models Like 'Mythos' Rather Than Just Joining Anthropic's Project"

Inaugural Meeting of the Science and Technology·Artificial Intelligence Future Strategy Council

"If We Do Not Discuss Future Strategies, a Major Crisis May Occur"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Guhn.

"Rather than asking whether Korea will participate in Anthropic's cybersecurity cooperation initiative, the 'Glasswing Project,' the real question should be whether Korea can develop an AI model on par with 'Mythos.'

Baek Kong-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, expressed these views during his opening remarks at the inaugural session of the 'Science, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Future Strategy Council,' held at the National Science and Technology Advisory Council in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on May 13. He said, "Recently, I keep receiving questions about whether Korea will join the Glasswing Project, and I find that regrettable."

Deputy Prime Minister Baek continued, "Korea says it is aiming for top-three global competitiveness in AI, but our awareness and preparation still fall short." He added, "Today, we are discussing strategies for the science and technology roadmap from 2030 to 2035, but we also need to review whether the current policies set for 2030 are truly appropriate."

On this day, the Ministry of Science and ICT officially launched the Science, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Future Strategy Council by holding its inaugural meeting. The council consists of 17 experts from across society, including not only researchers in science, technology, and AI, but also professionals in economics, industry, education, healthcare, culture, and law. Its role is to analyze the interaction between advanced technology and social change, and to identify policy directions and national agendas needed for the transition to the future society.

Deputy Prime Minister Baek noted, "In 2020, the Ministry of Science and ICT developed a future strategy for 2045, but at that time, the roadmap did not account for the emergence of generative AI." He continued, "Now that we are in the era of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, and preparing for the era of physical AI, the pace of change is so rapid that it calls into question the value of long-term planning."

Deputy Prime Minister Baek emphasized, "Google DeepMind predicts that the era of artificial general intelligence (AGI) will arrive by 2030, while Anthropic suggests it could happen in just one or two years. Assuming that superintelligence will emerge beyond AGI, we need to discuss and review how the scientific and industrial sectors should prepare for these changes."

He also warned, "If we do not discuss and reflect future strategies in our policies now, we may face a major crisis down the line." He urged, "I hope that experts from all fields will make bold proposals and that concrete discussions can be incorporated into policy through this Future Strategy Council."

Meanwhile, before the event, Deputy Prime Minister Baek responded to questions from reporters regarding Korea's participation in the Glasswing Project, saying, "At the government level, we are actively exploring the possibility of joining the project," but also added, "However, I do not believe we need to be fixated on participating in this particular project."

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