Lee vows W100tr in public sector investment for AI industry in Korea
Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the leading presidential contender, emphasized the need for government-led investment in the artificial intelligence industry during a Monday visit to FuriosaAI.
The visit to the local AI chipmaker marked Lee's first public appearance since declaring his candidacy last week.
“For me, my biggest concern is how can we make it so that many people can live better lives in better circumstances? And when it comes to jobs, artificial intelligence is the most urgent matter,” Lee said during a meeting at FuriosaAI’s headquarters in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul.
“The most important part of the problem of jobs is that it feels as though the world is undergoing a rapid transformation almost akin to the invention of a new writing system," Lee said.
"So I wanted to come to the site itself and hear exactly what is needed from the public sector," he added.
Founded in 2017, South Korean startup FuriosaAI specializes in designing and developing data center accelerators for cutting-edge AI models and applications. Lee was joined at the meeting by CEO Paik June and researchers Koo Bon-cheol and Lee Joo-yoon.
“I see a new hope. Many people, including my colleagues, have recently expressed concern that Korea may be falling behind in global AI development. But FuriosaAI’s existence clearly shows that such fears are unfounded,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Lee also unveiled a set of AI-related campaign pledges on Facebook, including plans to invest 100 trillion won ($70 billion) to enhance Korea’s global competitiveness in AI.
His proposals include: establishing a presidential AI committee, creating cumulative national AI data clusters, securing over 50,000 GPUs and supporting the development of AI-dedicated neural processing units, or NPUs.
Lee currently leads among the declared candidates for the June 3 presidential election.
In a Realmeter poll of 1,506 respondents conducted Wednesday and Thursday, Lee led the field with 48.8 percent support in the “most suitable next president” category.
He was followed by former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo with 10.9 percent and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo with 8.6 percent. While Han has not mentioned running for president, some consider him a potential candidate for the ruling People Power Party. For the same conservative party, Kim resigned as labor minister on Wednesday to officially launch his presidential bid.
Other contenders include former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon (6.2 percent), former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo (5.2 percent), Rep. Lee Jun-seok of the minor conservative New Reform Party (3 percent), former PPP lawmaker Yoo Seong-min (2.7 percent) of the PPP, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the PPP (2.4 percent), former South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo of the Democratic Party (1.3 percent), and Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon of the Democratic Party (1.2 percent).
Lee also leads within his party, receiving 52.2 percent support from Democratic Party voters, followed by Kim Kyoung-soo at 11.7 percent and Kim Dong-yeon at 3.7 percent.
flylikekite@heraldcorp.com
