South Korea to Incentivize AI Adoption Across Government Administration

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook has instructed the interior ministry to establish a system that enables public servants to fully utilize artificial intelligence to drive administrative innovation. The government aims to make 2027 the year when AI driven government operations begin in earnest. To achieve this, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will provide incentives for civil servants who develop and deploy AI tools, including cash rewards and points that apply toward promotion considerations.

The initiative includes the expansion of the AI Government Lab, a platform launched in July that allows employees to build prototypes using public data and AI coding tools. The government plans to increase the lab's capacity from 200 simultaneous users to 6,000 and will provide necessary computing resources, such as graphics processing units, that individual agencies may struggle to secure. These measures support a broader goal to train 20,000 AI Champions, defined as in house specialists capable of solving public administration problems, by 2030.

To encourage experimentation, the government stated that civil servants will not be penalized for unforeseen results from AI experiments provided they follow safety standards and avoid gross negligence. Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung emphasized that success depends on individual officials using the technology to solve daily work problems. The government will also provide comprehensive AI training for personnel across all ministries and may begin assessing agencies on their AI adoption progress next year.