[DigitalToday reporter Jin-ho Lee (이진호)] "I should have come wearing a hanbok. Then we could have promoted our Ministry of Science and ICT and Korea better..."

Those were the words of an official at the Ministry of Science and ICT whom I met at MWC26 in Barcelona, Spain. On his first overseas business trip, he said he needed to work harder at the event, his expression mixing excitement and worry. A lanyard attached to his MWC pass clearly read "KOREA". He said he got the "KOREA" lanyard from the Korea pavilion where South Korean companies gathered.

It was the first MWC since a new government took office. But Deputy Prime Minister and science minister Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈) could not attend. Whether Bae would attend drew media attention until just before the event. With the telecoms industry rushing an artificial intelligence (AI) transition, there were expectations that Bae, an AI expert, would attend to check global trends and incorporate them into policy. Bae was also known to have openly signalled his desire to attend.

But Bae could not make time as he accompanied President Lee Jae-myung (이재명) on state visits to Singapore and the Philippines. Earlier, he also missed CES 2026 after accompanying the president on a trip to China. The science ministry, which had been adjusting attendees until the last minute, dispatched a director-general-level official to Barcelona. With Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung (류제명) having already visited CES in Bae's place, Choi Woo-hyuk (최우혁), head of the Information Security Network Policy Office, attended the event as delegation chief.

The event ran even without its top official. As the working-level official said he wanted to promote Korea more, science ministry officials led by Choi worked harder on the ground. Team leaders and other officials joined forces to push discussions on international telecom policy cooperation and AI. Choi took part in the launch ceremony of the AI Network Alliance (AINA) and interacted with officials from global companies including Nvidia, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Vodafone. He also discussed trends in AI network evolution and ways for future industrial cooperation with the Korea team, including Samsung Electronics, alongside a Nvidia vice president and others.

That was not all. The science ministry also served as a messenger linking small and large companies. Mobilint, a South Korean neural processing unit (NPU) company, was struggling to secure memory and NPU substrates. After learning this at MWC, the science ministry informed SK Hynix and received a promise of cooperation to ensure a smooth supply of parts, the account said.

Some regret remains. The weight of national technological competition ultimately changes depending on who stands on the ground. Unlike CES, which has more of an industry ministry character, MWC, where the future of the mobile and telecoms industry is discussed, is a stage that the science ministry, which oversees AI and information and communications policy, should pay particular attention to. Ministers, regulatory officials and global corporate executives gather at the venue to discuss industrial and policy direction. The efforts of the officials who worked across Barcelona this year were clearly meaningful. Still, as the presence or absence of a top official remains important at a venue that conveys the symbolism of national technological competition and a policy message, I look forward to seeing the minister running alongside the team next year.