South Korea and Indonesia agreed to cooperate to realise people’s basic rights through artificial intelligence (AI) technology and to narrow the digital divide, following a summit between the two countries’ leaders.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said on April 1 it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on digital development cooperation through a summit between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung (이재명) and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and would strengthen cooperation to expand an AI basic society, including building high-performance computing infrastructure (HPC).

With the summit as a catalyst, the two leaders shared an understanding of the vision of an AI basic society that realises people’s basic rights through AI technology. They jointly announced a "Global AI Basic Society Solidarity Initiative" to implement it. It is the first case of a global AI basic society coalition promoted by South Korea. The goal is to link the two countries’ AI ecosystems to address global challenges in digital, health, education, food security and government.

The government explained the initiative declaration as an effort to achieve the policy task of realising an AI basic society. Centered on the Ministry of Science and ICT, it plans to strengthen cooperation across various AI fields at the pan-government level, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The MOU on digital development cooperation includes steps to strengthen cooperation on digital policy such as AI, next-generation communications technology, data and information protection, and workforce training. The two countries will establish a Joint Committee on Digital Development Cooperation and promote joint research, exchanges of personnel and technology, and test cooperation on digital equipment.

The two sides also agreed to continue cooperation to build HPC infrastructure in Indonesia. Through the Korea-ASEAN Digital Flagship Project announced in 2023, South Korea has been providing official development assistance since 2024 to Indonesia for HPC infrastructure that includes domestically produced neural processing units (NPU) and to build capacity to use HPC.

The infrastructure will be built locally in Indonesia in the first half of this year. The Science Data Education Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) will provide training on its use through 2028.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈) said, "With the Korea-Indonesia summit as a catalyst, we decided to open an official channel for cooperation in science, technology and information and communications, and to jointly 추진 global AI basic society solidarity." He added, "Building on these results, we will strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and proactively lead the global AI agenda."