President Lee Jae-myung's administration has reshuffled its presidential office lineup for artificial intelligence policy as part of a push to make South Korea one of the world's top three AI powers. Ha Jung-woo, who served as the first senior presidential secretary for AI, returns as vice chairman of the National AI Strategy Committee, while Rep. Lee Hae-min of the Rebuilding Korea Party, an information technology specialist, was tapped as senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning. Lee Won-joo, an energy policy expert who heads the energy transition policy office at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, was named to the newly created post of presidential adviser for mega projects.
Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said on the 30th that Ha "proved his expertise as the first senior secretary for AI and will set the direction for the country's bid to become one of the top three AI powers, bringing together the capabilities of industry, academia and research institutes to present a national AI strategy."
Ha, an AI specialist formerly with NAVER, laid the groundwork for the current administration's AI policy during his tenure as the presidential office's first senior secretary for AI. He returns to public service after narrowly losing a June by-election in Busan to independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon by 1.7 percentage points.
In a social media post the same day, Ha said that "if we connect our strengths — unrivaled competitiveness in memory semiconductors and clear third-tier capabilities in frontier AI — to a national AI strategy, South Korea can become an indispensable country in the global AI supply chain."
Rep. Lee Hae-min was selected for the vacant post of senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning. An IT specialist who has worked as a researcher at the Korea Education and Research Information Service, a senior project manager at Google's headquarters and chief product officer at Opensurvey, the appointment draws attention as a pick of an opposition figure from the broader ruling bloc for a core advisory role on AI policy.
Lee Won-joo, head of the energy transition policy office at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, was appointed to the newly created position of presidential adviser for mega projects. After serving at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in posts including director general for energy policy, director general for power innovation policy, spokesperson and head of the planning and coordination office, he took charge of the energy transition policy office at the climate ministry, launched last October, overseeing policy on power grids, nuclear power and renewable energy.
