South Korea's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Committee said on May 14 that Deputy Prime Minister for Science and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Gyeong-hun will also serve as its full-time deputy chair after Im Mun-young resigned and was dismissed to run in a by-election.

Bae chaired the 18th steering committee meeting on the day. The steering committee will continue to meet every two weeks as before.

Key agenda items included a first-quarter implementation review of the "Republic of Korea AI Action Plan," results of planning support for new 2027 R&D projects and plans to advance non-R&D support, the status and next steps for establishing an AI legislative framework, and an operating plan for a government performance evaluation task force.

The committee reviewed, by ministry, progress and first-quarter implementation performance under the AI action plan approved at its second plenary meeting on Feb. 25. It will continue to manage implementation speed and performance by task through quarterly reviews.

It also shared the results of planning support for new 2027 AI budget and projects in the R&D field. It decided to move ahead with full-scale planning support in non-R&D areas as well, and said it will closely review whether investments are similar or overlapping to improve the efficiency of AI fiscal investment across the government.

It also discussed an AI legislative framework at the whole-of-government level in response to concentrated legislative demand in areas including defense, manufacturing, medical care and education.

Bae, the committee's deputy chair, said he would continue its role as an AI control tower in a stable manner. He said he would push ahead with key tasks for a leap to "AI G3," including the smooth implementation of the "Republic of Korea AI Action Plan."