AMCHAM launches AI leadership council in Korea

By Lee Han-gyoul, The Korea Herald - The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Thursday launched the AMCHAM AI Leadership Council, bringing together major global technology companies and policymakers to support South Korea's ambitions of becoming a global artificial intelligence hub.

The announcement came during the 2026 AMCHAM AI Forum held at Grand Hyatt Seoul under the theme, "Powering Korea's AI Future: Partnership, Policy, and Scale."

The event drew about 150 participants from government, industry and academia, including technology executives and policymakers from Korea and the United States.

The newly established council will serve as a high-level consultative body aimed at promoting AI policy discussions and strengthening public-private cooperation.

Senior executives from companies including Apple, Amazon Web Services, Qualcomm, JPMorgan and OpenAI joined the council, with AMCHAM Korea Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Kim serving as chair.

"For Korea to emerge as a global AI hub, innovation-friendly policies, strong public-private cooperation and execution capabilities are essential," Kim said.

Rep. Cha Ji-ho outlined ways to strengthen the competitiveness of Korea's AI industry and discussed the future direction of the country's national AI strategy.

Ryu Young-sang, president of the AI Committee of the SK SUPEX Council, delivered a keynote speech titled "From a semiconductor exporter to a token exporter," presenting SK Group's vision for transforming Korea into a major exporter of AI tokens.

Kim Kyung-man, director general of the AI Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, highlighted the government's AI policy direction.

"We will ensure that everyone can benefit from AI innovation," Kim said.

During corporate presentations, executives discussed AI adoption, trustworthy AI and strategies for attracting global investment into Korea's AI ecosystem.

Kim Young-hoon, director of public policy for Korea and Japan at Amazon Web Services Korea, highlighted global AI adoption trends and corporate use cases.

Helen Teixeira, managing director at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, warned of emerging cybersecurity threats in the AI era.

"Now is the time to establish defenses against cyberattacks before they become equipped with advanced weaponized AI," she said.

Jason Chang, vice president of UL Solutions, emphasized the importance of governance and verification systems for trustworthy AI.

"AI can drive sustainable growth when supported by responsible governance and transparency," he said.

Alex Kim, vice president and Korea general manager of PTC, argued that the structure and connectivity of data matter more than sheer volume for successful AI deployment.

"For companies to unlock the full value of AI, they must move beyond implementation and fundamentally redesign existing operations," he said.

Lee Ji-hyung, executive chair of the board of Invest Seoul, said Seoul was well positioned to become a global AI hub thanks to its talent pool and capital markets.

The forum concluded with a panel discussion on the policy priorities, investment conditions and public-private cooperation needed to strengthen Korea's AI competitiveness.

Source: https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10796251?ref=naver