New index to address limits of foreign metrics based on US job data
Analysis to draw on actual tasks performed by domestic workers
Early-warning system to track employment shifts by industry and age
The government plans to develop a Korea-specific AI exposure index to measure how the spread of artificial intelligence is affecting domestic employment. Moving away from the current practice of applying foreign indices based on US occupational data to Korean job classifications, the new index will analyze the actual tasks performed by workers in South Korea. An early-warning system to track employment changes by industry and age group in real time will also be built.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Employment Information Service said Monday they are developing the "Korea AI Exposure Index" and a "Canary Dashboard." Both tools are currently in the research-contracting phase, and the government plans to complete their development by 2027.
The Korea-specific indicators are designed to detect early the impact of AI and the carbon-neutrality transition on industries and jobs. They follow up on the "Basic Plan for Employment Stability amid Industrial Transition," finalized and announced at a national policy coordination meeting in July. At the time, the government identified "swiftly reading transition signals without missing them" as its top priority during the period of large-scale industrial change.
Until now, analyses of AI's impact on domestic employment have relied on foreign indices based on the US Occupational Information Network (O*NET), mapped onto Korea's standard occupational classification system.
Critics have noted, however, that even within the same occupation, the specific mix of tasks and the digital infrastructure environment differ by country, making it difficult for foreign indices alone to accurately reflect the realities of the Korean labor market.
The Korea AI Exposure Index will directly analyze the tasks that domestic workers actually perform on the job, with the aim of measuring more accurately how exposed each occupation is to AI.
The Canary Dashboard goes a step further, tracking in real time the actual employment changes driven by AI's spread, broken down by industry and age group. It is designed to identify which job functions and age brackets show signs of employment disruption first, enabling early detection of warning signals. The government believes that the faster changes are detected during industrial transition, the better it can cushion employment shocks and respond to emerging job opportunities.
Before the indicators are finalized, the government will hold a public contest to find names that are easy for ordinary citizens to understand. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Employment Information Service are running the "AI Exposure Index & Canary Dashboard Naming Contest" from Monday through Sept. 27. The contest is open to the general public, and the winning entries will be announced in October.
"We hope this contest will broadly gather creative ideas from the public and help us find names that anyone can easily understand," a Korea Employment Information Service official said.
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
