Lee Hyeong-il, first vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, delivers congratulatory remarks at the "Republic of Korea Strategic Economy Forum: Korea's Path in the Age of AI Transformation," co-hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday. [Ministry of Economy and Finance]
Lee Hyeong-il, first vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, delivers congratulatory remarks at the "Republic of Korea Strategic Economy Forum: Korea's Path in the Age of AI Transformation," co-hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday. [Ministry of Economy and Finance]

The government is moving to accelerate regulatory reform and build a data ecosystem to develop AI agents and physical AI as next-generation growth engines. Officials say AI technology has reached an inflection point where it is reshaping not just individual industries but the entire economic system, and they are committed to putting the necessary institutional and industrial foundations in place.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade co-hosted the second "Republic of Korea Strategic Economy Forum: Korea's Path in the Age of AI Transformation" at Lotte Hotel Seoul on Tuesday. Following the first forum, held June 30 on the theme of "Economic Growth in the AI Era," this session focused on "AI Today and Tomorrow: AI Agents and Physical AI," examining strategies to secure future industrial competitiveness.

About 120 participants attended, including Lee Hyeong-il, first vice minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Park Young-sun, chair of the ministry's Strategic Economy Advisory Council; Democratic Party lawmaker Ahn Do-geol; and Kwon Nam-hoon, president of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, along with officials from government, the National Assembly, industry and academia.

In his congratulatory remarks, Vice Minister Lee said AI agent commerce and physical AI represent "new frontiers that AI is rapidly opening up," and pledged to "develop regulatory reform measures — including regulatory sandboxes — to allow AI agent commerce services to be piloted."

He added that South Korea must build "a virtuous cycle in which data is developed and fed back into industry" with the goal of becoming the world's top power in physical AI. "With the urgency that speed determines success, we will push forward policy tasks to make Korea irreplaceable," he said.

Park Young-sun, delivering the keynote address, framed the AI transition as a transformation of the entire economic system and said a national-level response was essential. "National competitiveness will be determined when semiconductors, data, power and robots are combined with new financial infrastructure such as stablecoins, along with the necessary laws and institutions," she said. She added that inclusivity must be ensured so that small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners are not left behind in the AI transition.

Lawmaker Ahn said South Korea should lead global AI platforms and industrial standards by linking retail and payment data with manufacturing and robotics data, and announced plans to pursue related legislative and regulatory reforms as well as budget support.

Kwon said the institute would actively incorporate the forum's recommendations into future research and policy proposals.

Panel discussions that followed centered on strategies to strengthen industrial competitiveness in AI agent commerce and physical AI. The first session examined standard-setting and payment infrastructure development in preparation for the spread of AI agent-based commerce, while the second identified data asset-building for AI transformation in manufacturing and strategies for fostering an on-device AI ecosystem as key priorities.


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