Korea's national AI model project adrift as government questions own blueprint

Korea’s national AI foundation model project is facing fresh uncertainty as the government reviews whether to continue its final evaluation and considers a separate frontier AI initiative. Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said the project will continue and that Korea should pursue frontier AI at the same time. The ministry says no decision has been made to terminate the project or create a special purpose company.

Launched in June 2025, the project aims to build Korea’s sovereign AI capabilities and match at least 95 percent of leading global frontier model performance.

The government initially selected five teams and later narrowed them to three: LG AI Research, SK Telecom and Upstage.

The third evaluation had been planned for the end of this year, with two final teams originally expected to be chosen.

The ministry said it has not decided whether to end the project or establish a special purpose company for top-tier AI development.

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon criticized the government’s review, saying Korea’s strategy was what was lacking.

Published Sep 30, 2026 3:48 pm KST

Updated Sep 30, 2026 3:53 pm KST

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, front row third from left, watches a dancing robot at a physical artificial intelligence forum at the Korea Development Bank headquarters in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, Sept. 22. Yonhap

Korea’s national artificial intelligence (AI) foundation model project is showing signs of running aground, as the government, which launched the program and pushed it toward a final evaluation despite controversies, has begun questioning its own blueprint.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night that the project will continue despite “various projections and speculation,” adding, “I believe Korea must also pursue frontier AI at the same time.”

“The gap between countries that have frontier AI and those that do not could become far wider than it is today,” Bae wrote. “But pursuing frontier AI should not mean stopping the national foundation model project. Not all AI needed in industries has to be a massive frontier model. What is needed is AI optimized for each field after considering cost, speed, security and specialization.”

Bae’s post came after reports that the ICT ministry is conducting a comprehensive review of the project’s direction, including whether to proceed with its final-round evaluation. The ministry is also reportedly considering establishing a special purpose company (SPC) dedicated to developing a frontier AI model.

Launched in June 2025, the national AI foundation model project was designed to foster Korea’s sovereign AI capabilities. The project drew significant attention as a competition to develop Korea’s most capable homegrown AI model, with a target of achieving large language model performance equivalent to at least 95 percent of leading global frontier models.

The government initially selected five teams and has since narrowed the field to three — LG AI Research, SK Telecom and Upstage — following the second-round evaluation. The process has faced controversy as other prominent domestic AI developers, including Naver, Kakao and Motif Technologies, were eliminated after failing to meet evaluation criteria.

The government had originally planned to conduct the third evaluation by the end of this year and select two final teams. However, questions have lingered in the market over whether their models are competitive against the latest models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.

Bae himself said last month that the project’s evaluation system was “lagging behind global standards.” The government is also reportedly questioning whether the competition framework designed last year remains suitable for an AI landscape that is changing rapidly.

“The government fully recognizes the need to concentrate financial support on developing top-tier AI models,” the ministry said in a statement. “However, no decision has been made on whether to terminate the national AI foundation model project or establish an SPC for the development of top-tier AI models.”

Bae, in his Facebook post, appears to assure the project's continuity, saying its “third-round evaluation will be completed as planned.”

Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon speaks during a presentation for the national artificial intelligence foundation model project at Coex in southern Seoul, Dec. 30, 2025. Yonhap

However, the government’s sudden push for a separate frontier AI initiative has created fresh uncertainty for the industry. After designing the foundation model project as a competition to develop Korea’s most capable AI model, the government is now considering a separate initiative to develop even more capable frontier models.

“While the national foundation model project has had positive effects, such as expanding the talent pool, there were concerns from the beginning that companies eliminated from the competition could be perceived as lacking technological capabilities,” an industry official said.

“If the goal is truly to develop a frontier model, the government needs to carefully consider how the competition should be structured. Given that companies have already committed significant resources to the foundation model project and produced results, any frontier AI project — if pursued — should be linked to the existing project by any means.”

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon criticized the government’s review of the project, questioning its explanation that the AI landscape has changed and that the continued advancement of U.S. and Chinese models renders the foundation model project alone insufficient.

“U.S. and Chinese AI were already continuing to advance back then,” Han wrote in Facebook post on Wednesday. “What was lacking was our strategy.”

韩国国家人工智能基金会模型项目面临新的不确定性，政府正在重新评估是否继续进行最终评估，并考虑启动一项独立的前沿人工智能计划。科学部长官裴京勋表示，该项目将继续进行，韩国也应同时推进前沿人工智能的发展。科学部表示，尚未决定终止该项目或成立专门公司。

该项目于 2025 年 6 月启动，旨在建设韩国自主人工智能能力，并达到全球领先前沿模型性能的至少 95%。

政府最初选定了五个团队，后来缩小范围至三个：LG AI Research、SK Telecom 和 Upstage。

第三次评估原计划于今年年底进行，最初预计会选出两支最终队伍。

该部表示，尚未决定是终止该项目还是成立一家专门从事顶尖人工智能研发的公司。

独立议员韩东勋批评了政府的评估，称韩国缺乏的是战略。

发布于2026年9月30日下午3:48（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年9月30日下午3:53（韩国标准时间）

9月22日，韩国副总理兼科学技术信息通信部部长裴京勋（前排左三）在首尔永登浦区韩国开发银行总部举行的实体人工智能论坛上观看跳舞机器人。（韩联社）

韩国国家人工智能（AI）基础模型项目出现停滞迹象，因为尽管存在争议，但韩国政府还是启动了该项目并推动其进行最终评估，而现在政府却开始质疑自己的蓝图。

韩国副总理兼科学技术信息通信部部长裴京勋周二晚在Facebook上发文称，尽管存在“各种预测和猜测”，该项目仍将继续进行，并补充说，“我认为韩国也必须同时追求前沿人工智能。”

裴写道：“拥有前沿人工智能的国家与没有前沿人工智能的国家之间的差距可能会比现在大得多。但追求前沿人工智能不应意味着停止国家基础模型项目。并非所有行业所需的人工智能都必须是大规模的前沿模型。我们需要的是在考虑成本、速度、安全性和专业化程度后，针对每个领域进行优化的人工智能。”

此前有报道称，信息通信技术部正在对该项目的方向进行全面审查，包括是否继续进行最终评估。随后，裴宇发了这条帖子。据悉，该部还在考虑成立一家专门用于开发前沿人工智能模型的特殊目的公司（SPC）。

韩国于2025年6月启动了国家人工智能基础模型项目，旨在提升韩国自主人工智能能力。该项目作为一项竞赛，旨在开发韩国最强大的本土人工智能模型，目标是使大型语言模型的性能至少达到全球领先前沿模型的95%，因此备受关注。

政府最初选定了五支团队，经过第二轮评估后，最终筛选出三支团队——LG AI Research、SK Telecom 和 Upstage。这一过程引发了争议，因为包括 Naver、Kakao 和 Motif Technologies 在内的其他一些知名国内人工智能开发商因未能达到评估标准而被淘汰。

政府原计划在今年年底前完成第三次评估，并选出最终的两支团队。然而，市场一直质疑他们的模型能否与OpenAI、Anthropic和谷歌的最新模型相媲美。

裴俊浩本人上个月曾表示，该项目的评估体系“落后于全球标准”。据报道，政府也在质疑去年制定的竞争框架是否仍然适用于快速变化的人工智能领域。

该部在一份声明中表示：“政府充分认识到需要集中财政支持开发一流人工智能模型。但是，尚未决定是否终止国家人工智能基础模型项目，或者设立一个专门负责开发一流人工智能模型的特别控制机构。”

裴宇在脸书帖子中似乎保证了该项目的继续进行，称其“第三轮评估将按计划完成”。

2025年12月30日，韩国科学技术信息通信部部长裴京勋在首尔南部COEX会展中心就国家人工智能基金会示范项目发表演讲。（韩联社）

然而，政府突然推进一项独立的前沿人工智能计划，给业界带来了新的不确定性。此前，政府将基础模型项目设计成一项竞赛，旨在开发韩国最强大的人工智能模型，而现在，政府又在考虑一项独立的计划，以开发功能更强大的前沿模型。

一位业内人士表示：“虽然国家基金会模式项目取得了一些积极成效，例如扩大了人才库，但从一开始就有人担心，被淘汰出局的公司可能会被认为缺乏技术能力。”

“如果目标真的是开发前沿模型，政府需要认真考虑如何构建竞争机制。鉴于各公司已经为基础模型项目投入了大量资源并取得了成果，任何前沿人工智能项目——如果要继续推进——都应该以某种方式与现有项目联系起来。”

独立议员韩东勋批评了政府对该项目的审查，质疑政府的解释，即人工智能格局已经发生变化，美国和中国模型的不断进步使得仅靠基础模型项目是不够的。

韩周三在脸书上发帖写道：“当时中美人工智能技术就已经开始取得进展了，我们所缺乏的是战略。”