South Korea's AI policy chief Kim Yong-beom says national production system key to AI competitiveness

Kim Yong-beom, the Blue House policy secretary, stated that while companies can develop artificial intelligence, the creation of power grids, industrial sites and supply chains is the responsibility of the state. He described AI as a "production revolution" that reshapes macro‑economic balance and demands a national production platform linking semiconductors, data centres, manufacturing capacity and electricity infrastructure. Kim argued that the nation's competitiveness in the AI era depends on this integrated system rather than on individual firms' algorithms.

He linked the message to the government's recently announced mega‑projects for semiconductor clusters and highlighted South Korea's advantage in high‑bandwidth memory (HBM). Kim also emphasized that surplus profits from AI‑driven productivity should be reinvested by the government to support next‑generation production capacity and social welfare, positioning the state as the designer of a virtuous cycle of production and distribution.