Heated clash at parliamentary audit as PPP's Park Jung-ha demands disclosure of project information
Deputy Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon clashed with People Power Party Rep. Park Jung-ha at the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee's comprehensive audit on the 23rd, when Park demanded the submission of official approval documents for the 5 trillion won frontier artificial intelligence (AI) development project. Frontier AI refers to cutting-edge artificial intelligence that can learn on its own and perform a variety of tasks like a human.
The heated exchange at the audit broke out as the ruling and opposition parties remained at odds over the transparency of the project's background and budget spending process. During questioning on the morning of the audit, Rep. Park likened the frontier AI project to an 'AI Daechi-dong' scandal, raising concerns that benefits could be concentrated on certain groups in the implementation of the 16 trillion won project, comprising about 5 trillion won in government funds and 11 trillion won in private investment. Noting that these were hypotheses and speculation rather than confirmed facts, he called for the project's background and related materials to be disclosed transparently to dispel the suspicions.
Deputy PM Bae said it would be difficult to provide the draft budget plan directly, as fiscal authorities object to its submission. He explained that the government was doing its best to provide materials that could be disclosed and had repeatedly sought to persuade the fiscal authorities, but that submission would be difficult without the cooperation of the relevant ministries. Instead, he said the materials would be made available for review and that he would offer further explanation of how the project came to be pursued.
Asked why the project had been pushed forward in haste, Bae emphasized, "Frontier AI is a national strategic asset that must be secured," adding, "I believed we could not miss this moment."
As the exchange intensified, committee chairman Song Ki-heon of the Democratic Party stepped in to mediate.
