The Blue House post of senior secretary for AI future planning, the control tower for AI policy, has been vacant for four months. With the election of a new leadership at the Democratic Party completed and the possibility of an additional cabinet reshuffle being discussed, attention is on whether the delayed appointment of a successor will pick up pace again.

On Aug. 21, political and AI industry circles said the post has been vacant since former senior secretary Ha Jung-woo (하정우) stepped down in April to run in a by-election for the Busan Buk-gu Gap parliamentary seat. The position was created with the launch of the Lee Jae-myung government and oversees future agendas including the national AI strategy.

Initially, there were expectations that a successor would be named around the government’s first year in office and around the June 3 local elections. The Blue House replaced senior secretaries in areas including public relations and communications, civil affairs and social affairs in June as it entered its second year, but the AI future planning post was not included in the announcement at the time.

After that, Lee Gi-hyeok (이기혁), head of the startup ecosystem at Amazon Web Services Korea, was mentioned as a possible successor, but it did not lead to an actual appointment. With no notable names circulating since then, there is speculation that the Blue House is looking for a third person.

◆ Party convention ends...personnel timetable opens again

Interest in the successor appointment is returning because key political schedules for the ruling camp have wrapped up. The Democratic Party held its regular national party members’ convention on Aug. 17 and completed procedures to elect a new leadership. With talk of a possible additional cabinet reshuffle, there were expectations that the Blue House could also carry out long-delayed staffing decisions for aides. Analysts say the AI future planning post could be a priority in any additional round of appointments, as it was left open even when some senior aides were replaced in June.

Industry voices say it is becoming difficult to delay the appointment further as key government AI policies enter a full-scale execution phase. The government in June unveiled three “mega projects for a major leap forward for South Korea,” centered on semiconductors, robots and physical AI, and AI data centers. The Ministry of Science and ICT’s “sovereign AI foundation model” project, a core AI policy, is also gaining speed. The ministry on Aug. 18 selected three elite teams including SK Telecom, LG AI Research and Upstage to advance to a third-stage evaluation.

◆ From data centers to manufacturing AX...a growing coordination role

The vacancy is being filled to a large extent by Vice Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon (배경훈), who is also science and ICT minister, but there are assessments that there are limits. Bae has accompanied President Lee Jae-myung on major overseas trips, effectively taking on part of the role. After former standing vice chair of the National AI Strategy Committee Lim Moon-young (임문영) stepped down in May to run in a by-election, Bae has also been doubling as vice chair.

Calls are growing for a swift appointment because AI policy is not confined to a single ministry. The mega projects require cooperation not only from the Ministry of Science and ICT but also from related ministries such as the industry ministry. AI data centers that the government is working to expand require links between power supply and siting and industrial policy. Physical AI also requires manufacturing, robots and regional industrial policy to move together. Securing AI talent and labor transitions are intertwined with education and employment policies.

That means the AI future planning senior secretary must set priorities across policies scattered among ministries and coordinate them at the presidential office level. The Blue House organizational chart also places under the post secretaries for national AI policy, science and technology research, population policy, and climate, environment and energy. It is a position that must oversee future policy overall.

◆ Need coordination and execution beyond technical expertise

The industry says not only the timing but also who is chosen matters. A political source said, “I understand the Blue House has been narrowing candidates centered on businesspeople,” but added, “I understand a significant number have expressed reluctance.”

The first officeholder, Ha, previously headed the AI Innovation Center at Naver Cloud, and was seen as having strong expertise in private-sector AI technology and industrial operations. But at this point, there are calls for a broad set of capabilities including inter-ministry coordination and policy execution, in addition to technical expertise. That is because government AI policy has expanded beyond models and GPUs to include data centers and power, semiconductors, physical AI, manufacturing AX and regional industry.

If a private-sector figure is appointed, managing conflicts of interest is also a task. During Ha’s tenure, conflict-of-interest controversies were raised over his stock holdings and government AI projects. Industry sources say the successor selection should more closely examine investments in or equity ties to AI companies, as well as interests linked to a previous employer. Some also say one reason it has been difficult to find a business candidate is that potential nominees are reluctant to disclose assets such as land or stocks when becoming a high-ranking public official.

The vacancy does not mean AI projects at individual ministries come to a halt. The Ministry of Science and ICT, the industry ministry and the interior ministry, among others, are pursuing projects according to existing plans. But as project scale grows and participating ministries and companies increase, the presidential office’s role in reducing duplicate investment and coordinating interests such as power, siting and regulation also becomes more important.

An AI industry official said, “Now is the stage of making already announced AI policies work in actual industrial sites.” The official added, “For the incoming senior secretary, execution capability that can link the private sector and government, along with technical understanding and inter-ministry coordination, will be important.”