Opening ceremony of the 49th KCCI Jeju Forum
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Chey Tae-won said Wednesday that businesses must "re-architect" their entire way of working to align with AI.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the KCCI Jeju Forum at the Jeju Shilla Hotel in Seogwipo, Chey said factories that thrived during the early days of electrification were not those that simply swapped in electric motors, but those that redesigned their entire production lines around electricity. "AI is no different," he said. "When we go beyond mere adoption and redesign the way we work, the accumulated strength of our economy will translate into new growth."
Chey said AI is the defining wave of the moment. "AI was once the stuff of movies, but now it has become a colleague and agent — one that no longer just answers questions but refines estimates and writes emails to clients on your behalf," he said.
He added that the wave "becomes a new starting line for those who ride it first, but can become a wall too high to climb for those who step aside." Still, he said, South Korea is a country that has turned the waves of industrialization and the information age into opportunity. "AI is another opportunity we cannot afford to miss," he said.
Chey cautioned that simply using AI does not automatically produce business results. "Current AI is like a 4-year-old — it still needs to mature," he said.
He said that while AI must grow up before it can be used to its full potential, companies cannot afford to wait. "You have to keep feeding it data — your current business, your thinking, the knowledge and data that reflect how you see the future," he said.
"AI works as much as you ask of it. The people who get ahead are those who know what they don't know and what questions to ask — those who connect people and AI through good questions," he said. He added that even if AI is not yet perfect, working alongside it consistently is the only way to adapt to the AI of the future, and that feeding it good data — not just asking it questions — is what allows it to grow into a more capable tool.
Chey introduced this year's forum theme as "Summer Flow: Into the Sea of Growth," saying it reflects a desire to open up greater possibilities for the Korean economy. He said the sea of growth cannot be crossed alone. Just as a single log struggles against the waves but many logs lashed together form a "teu — a Jeju dialect word for raft — that can ride them, "our economy can sail into a bigger sea when business, government, the National Assembly and the public row together," he said.
Opening ceremony of the 49th KCCI Jeju Forum
The KCCI Jeju Forum, the business community's premier summer gathering, opened Wednesday at the Jeju Shilla Hotel for a four-day run.
Now in its 49th year, the forum drew about 500 participants, including Chey, heads of regional chambers of commerce, vice chairmen of the Seoul Chamber, and business leaders from large and small companies across the country. National Assembly Speaker Jo Jeong-sik also attended, meeting with business community representatives.
The main lecture program begins Thursday under the theme "Leaders' Challenges." Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan will open the session with a talk titled "Three Key Battlegrounds for the Korean Economy," laying out the government's core strategies for securing future markets and a roadmap for Korean companies.
Seok Cha-ok, a Seoul National University professor and chief executive of Galux who specializes in AI-driven drug development, will follow with a session on how leaders can turn technological constraints into business opportunities. Kim Hyung-woo, chief executive of TravelWallet, which has driven innovation in overseas remittance and payment services, and Choi Hong-kuk, chief executive of Olgot, the company behind the frozen kimbap that rewrote the history of K-food, will also speak.
Friday's sessions will center on AI. Lee Jae-wook, director of the Seoul National University AI Institute, will discuss the present and future of AI in South Korea, and Jang Jin-seok, managing director and partner at BCG Korea, will propose corporate survival strategies for the AI era.
Chey will also take part in a panel discussion that day alongside Lee and Kwon Seok-jun, a semiconductor expert and professor at Sungkyunkwan University. The conversation is expected to range widely — from how traditional manufacturers can pursue AI transformation to how parents should approach their children's education in the AI age — as part of a broader discussion on the future AI will bring and the growth of the Korean economy. The panel will be livestreamed on the KCCI's official YouTube channel.
The final day, Saturday, will focus on broader social change and challenges. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young will speak on the policy direction for the K-culture industry. Ma Gang-rae, a professor at Chung-Ang University, will propose strategies for surviving the national crises of population decline and regional depopulation; Jeong Gyeong-seon, executive vice president of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, will address the need for companies to expand their role in creating social value; and singer Shawn will highlight the value of giving.
The forum will also host a roundtable on youth migration to rural areas as part of the KCCI's Entrepreneurship Renewal Task Force activities.
gil@heraldcorp.com
