※ Global Morning Briefing summarizes global news reported by The Seoul Economic Daily.
78% of Teachers Say AI Should Be Taught in Schools; Boston Public High Schools Begin AI Classes in September
Boston is becoming the first major U.S. city to introduce artificial intelligence as part of the regular curriculum at its public high schools. Starting in September, more than 20 high schools will begin classes covering how AI works, the fundamentals of data and algorithms, and how to use AI critically and ethically. Announcing the policy in March, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the goal is to help students use AI in practical ways both while enrolled and after they graduate and enter the workforce.
AI instruction in the United States has until now been largely limited to some private schools. New York City's plan for an AI-focused high school, pursued in April, collapsed amid pushback from parents and educators who worried it would erode students' attention spans and thinking skills. But the tide is shifting as calls grow for public education to lead on AI instruction: in a survey by the polling firm Ipsos, 78% of teachers said training in responsible AI use should be part of the school curriculum.
Intensifying competition in AI education among other countries, including China, is also cited as a driver of the shift. Hangzhou and Shanghai have made 10 to 30 hours of AI instruction a year mandatory starting in elementary school, and the United Arab Emirates has designated AI a required subject across public education beginning at age 4. Estonia and Singapore are likewise expanding instruction in AI literacy and critical verification skills.
Zhejiang University, Which Produced Liang Wenfeng, Now Cultivates Founders With an "AI Knowledge Tree"
Zhejiang University operates a Future Learning Center at its Zijingang campus in Hangzhou, where artificial intelligence breaks down a student's question and maps out a customized learning path instead of following a fixed curriculum. Known as the alma mater of DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, the university completed the facility in October last year, and The Seoul Economic Daily was the first Korean news organization to report from the site.
The center's "AI Knowledge Tree," built on an in-house large language model (LLM), takes a student's question and visualizes the related subtasks and required knowledge as branches. One third-year student who studied this way developed an ultracompact wireless guitar and attracted 20 million yuan, or about 4 billion won, in investment. The center also runs a simulation facility for training robot dogs in virtual reality (VR) and a program in which students acquire knowledge by conversing in English with AI-generated experts in various fields, including Isaac Newton.
The four-story research building is designed to support every stage of starting a company, from exploring research topics to studying, entering competitions and working with companies such as Huawei on commercialization. Zhejiang University's graduate startup rate reaches 20%, and beyond Liang, it has produced founders including Zhu Qiuguo of the robotics company Deep Robotics, earning it the nickname "China's Stanford." The university is building a second Future Learning Center at its Liangzhu campus on the outskirts of Hangzhou for graduate students in engineering and life sciences. Center director Bai Hao said the decision to devote an entire building to entrepreneurship education was not an easy one but that he pushed it through to the end.
Xi Holds Two Days of Back-to-Back Diplomacy; Will He Mediate on Iran?
Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for two days beginning on the 31st, holding back-to-back talks with leaders from 17 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. With Iran and Russia each fighting a war and a U.S.-China summit expected soon, attention is focused on how far Xi will use the meeting to expand his diplomatic influence against the United States.
Along with Xi and Putin, the meeting drew leaders from 17 countries, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Founded in 2001 under Chinese leadership, the SCO is now a multilateral body with 25 participating countries; Iran joined in 2023. The biggest question is whether Xi will take on the role of mediator in the Iran war, where attacks have resumed. Pezeshkian met with Xi that day and is scheduled to meet Putin on the 1st of next month, and with mediating countries Pakistan and Egypt also attending, active behind-the-scenes diplomacy is expected.
Xi's position on the war in Ukraine is also drawing attention. The talks come shortly after U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe secretly visited Moscow to press Russia to end the war, so China and Russia are expected to discuss the matter. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) assessed that Xi's leverage over Russia has grown as Western isolation deepens Moscow's economic dependence on China. Still, Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, predicted that Xi would publicly stick to general language urging dialogue and negotiation. Meanwhile, Russia is making an all-out push to complete the Power of Siberia 2 project, a 2,600-kilometer natural gas pipeline running through China, and Xi held a separate summit that day with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, signing more than 20 cooperation documents covering areas such as railways, e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI).
15 Days After Citing Call With Lee Jae-myung, Trump Says "Korea Is an Example"
U.S. President Donald Trump singled out South Korea in a Fox News interview released on the 30th, again airing trade grievances and hinting at possible retaliation. It came just 15 days after he referred to the contents of his phone call with President Lee Jae-myung. Trump claimed that the United States spends enormous sums helping NATO and other countries without receiving proper help in return, and named South Korea as an example.
Trump also expressed dissatisfaction over U.S. Forces Korea and said South Korea had not responded to a request for support related to Iran. U.S. Forces Korea number about 28,500, but he inflated the figure to about 40,000. He stressed that he had not pressed hard but had merely asked about participation and was turned down, and that he would remember it, adding that he would be able to extract advantages from South Korea going forward — remarks suggesting trade retaliation.
The same day, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged Group of 20 (G20) members to review their terms of trade with China, saying the world can no longer absorb China's $1.2 trillion trade surplus. Bessent described the weak yen as well contained and said he would respect the monetary policy decisions of Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, but Japanese financial markets have been unsettled. In the Tokyo bond market on the 31st, the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds rose to 2.950%, the highest in about 30 years since September 1996, and markets put the probability of an additional Bank of Japan rate hike in September at about 80%.
