The South Korean government will explain the direction of its "global AI hub" initiative to the Seoul-based diplomatic corps and identify country-by-country cooperation needs.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a joint briefing on the global AI hub on Tuesday, with diplomatic missions from about 60 countries in attendance.

The event was arranged to share the direction of the global AI hub initiative with the international community and to identify demand for cooperation with governments in each country to solve problems using AI.

On May 21, the government held a ceremony to declare its global AI hub vision and announced that, together with nine international organisations and five multilateral development banks, it would build in South Korea a global cooperation platform that uses AI to solve shared challenges such as the climate crisis, health and food.

Governments, academia and research circles from each country will participate in the global AI hub to establish AI policies and standards and to push ahead with AI demonstration projects. The government explained on Tuesday its vision of "AI for All, AI to solve global challenges", the hub’s key tasks and future plans. It also heard demand for bilateral and multilateral cooperation from each country and discussed mid- to long-term cooperation plans.

Jin-soo Lee (이진수), director-general for AI Policy Planning at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said the global AI hub, where AI technologies and capabilities from each country are brought together, will not be a platform for a specific country but a shared capabilities platform used by the international community together.

Yoon-jin Kang (강윤진), director-general for Development Finance at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the government will link outcomes produced by the global AI hub to development projects by multilateral development banks to support AI transitions in developing countries.

Jun-sik Hwang (황준식), director-general for Climate, Environment and Science Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the government will develop the global AI hub together with the international community.

The government plans to use the briefing as an opportunity to expand international understanding and support for the global AI hub and to encourage participation by major countries and related institutions at home and abroad.