Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the Democratic Party proposed building a cooperative system that organically connects large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises as a solution for Korea's industry to successfully achieve an AI transformation (AX).
In a congratulatory address at the "2026 Korea Win-Win Cooperation Conference" held at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 9th, Lee said, "AI is like eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil." He added, "Nevertheless, to avoid falling behind, large corporations and their suppliers must achieve an AI transition within a single system." He continued, "AI is a great hope that will grow our industry, but the moment we fall behind, it will come as great pain."
Lee called for large corporations to actively support their suppliers' AI adoption. "Grouping Samsung Electronics with its suppliers, and Hyundai Motor with its suppliers, to jointly pursue an AI transition is realistically the fastest path to growth," he said. "We have confirmed that supporting individual companies, such as through smart factory support programs that automate production facilities, has no effect."
He also mentioned the importance of platform sovereignty. "In an era where AI replaces search engines, big tech firms with computing power could monopolize consumption channels," he said. "Domestic large corporations must devise ways to sell Korean products using devices such as TVs they have sold overseas." Lee added, "Which distribution platform we secure will determine Korea's digital economic territory."
He also proposed the "introduction of a factoring system" that would allow suppliers to convert their trade receivables into cash early. "Every day, payments worth 110 trillion won occur, but the further down you go to second- and fourth-tier vendors, the slower the pace of receiving payment," he said. "If a factoring system is introduced, lower-tier suppliers will receive payment quickly, reducing financing costs and accelerating the pace of reinvestment."
Regarding measures to support small business owners, he explained, "Korea's annual point issuance amounts to 20 trillion won." He added, "If points accumulated at companies or airline mileage could be converted into local currency and used in the market, it would open a way to support small business owners without spending taxpayers' money."
