Finance Minister nominee Koo Yun-cheol vowed Thursday to assemble a team of top experts to develop “ultra-innovative” items as part of efforts to create a new engine for economic growth.
Koo made the pledge during his parliamentary confirmation hearing while highlighting weak growth potential as the country’s most pressing challenge amid demographic shifts and other structural issues.
“For the artificial intelligence-driven great transformation and ultra-innovative economy to achieve meaningful results, we should identify specific core items and concentrate all national capabilities on them to produce a greater number of world-class products and services,” the nominee said.
“We will bring together the nation’s top experts to create a project team dedicated to such ultra-innovative items and provide all tangible and intangible resources to support it,” he added.
Koo also pledged to establish a new AI bureau within the ministry, in line with President Lee Jae Myung’s pledge during his campaign to invest 100 trillion won (US$71.87 billion) in the AI sector through the combination of public funds and private sector capital.
“AI can be applied not only to the country’s key industries, such as shipbuilding and automobiles, but also to emerging fields like drones and digital court systems,” Koo said, insisting the country needs to “standardize and integrate data to support AI applications across sectors.” For the goals, Koo emphasized the importance of strengthening economic fundamentals and stabilizing the people’s livelihoods, calling for efforts to ensure price stability and to boost domestic demand through the swift implementation of supplementary budgets.
The nominee also pledged to actively manage external risks, such as tariff negotiations with the United States, and to respond proactively to demographic challenges, including the low birth rate and population aging.
If appointed, Koo will become the first finance minister under the Lee administration.