South Korea must maintain the pace of artificial intelligence development as it works to close the gap with global technology leaders and establish new markets, Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said on Wednesday.
“It is an entirely different matter for a country already ahead to adjust its pace, than for a nation that is catching up while simultaneously having to create new markets to slow down,” Bae said in a social media post, according to Yonhap News.
“We cannot afford to slow down the pace of AI development,” he added.
Bae argued that the emergence of frontier AI systems approaching human-level intelligence could create a significant divide between countries capable of developing such technology and those that cannot. He said the consequences could extend beyond technological leadership to industrial competitiveness, national security and long-term economic growth.
At the same time, the minister cautioned against pursuing rapid development without safeguards, stressing that AI safety and public confidence must progress alongside technological capabilities.
His remarks come amid an intensifying international debate over whether the development of increasingly powerful AI systems should be slowed to give safety measures and independent oversight more time to develop.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk have called for slowing the development of frontier AI while strengthening safety measures and independent scrutiny.
US President Donald Trump has rejected calls for a slowdown, describing concerns that AI could threaten humanity as a “hoax” and arguing that restricting American development could give China an advantage.
China has also opposed efforts to frame AI development around confrontation, warning that “fear-mongering, confrontation and vicious competition” could undermine global AI governance and advocating a more open and inclusive approach to the technology.