'I have lived on the front lines of technological innovation for a long time,' nominee says, pledging to reinvest AI gains into advanced industries and social safety nets

Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook speaks at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook speaks at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Thursday. [Yonhap]

Prime minister nominee Han Sung-sook said Thursday she would be a prime minister "focused solely on delivering results for the happiness of the people."

Speaking at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, Han said she would "devote every effort to leading an economic structural transformation through bold AI-driven change, helping future generations grow, and building a warm safety net for the socially vulnerable."

Han, a former CEO of Naver, said she had "lived on the front lines of technological innovation for a long time" and intended to "pour the experience and philosophy gained over 30 years in the field into running state affairs."

She added that gains accumulated through the AI transition and an export boom "must be reinvested in next-generation advanced industries, future foundational technologies, and the creation of a startup and innovation ecosystem." She pledged to "do everything possible to reverse the trajectory of the potential growth rate."

Han also said it was "the state's fundamental duty to lay a ladder of opportunity so that the next generation can stand on their own," and promised to "channel the fruits of the great transformation into investment in social safety nets for small and medium-sized enterprises, small business owners, neighborhood commercial districts and workers."

She praised her predecessor, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, saying he had "laid the groundwork for normalizing the state and restoring democracy over the past year and achieved great results," and said she "pays tribute to his hard work."

Turning to the National Assembly, Han said the government could not solve the many challenges of state affairs on its own and pledged to "do her utmost to serve as a bridge of cooperative governance — communicating closely with the Assembly and gathering wisdom from both ruling and opposition parties alike."

Han is an IT specialist who served as CEO of Naver. A former reporter for an IT trade publication, she rose through the company to become its executive vice president for services and its first female CEO. She was appointed minister of SMEs and Startups in June last year and was nominated as prime minister roughly a year later. If confirmed following the National Assembly hearing, she would become the country's second female prime minister in 20 years, after Han Myeong-sook, who served under President Roh Moo-hyun.

As minister of SMEs and Startups, Han made youth entrepreneurship support programs — including one called "Everyone's Startup" — her signature policy, but she issued a public apology after being nominated as prime minister following a personal data breach. The ministry had earlier disclosed that the email addresses, idea summaries and evaluation comments of 5,000 applicants accepted into the "Everyone's Startup" program had been leaked through a hacking incident.


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