The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) held a grand debate on the ‘Republic of Korea AI Ethics Principles’ at the Mozart Hall of the President Hotel in Seoul on August 14, discussing the key issues of the draft ethics principles currently being prepared together with experts from various fields and members of the general public. As a voluntary norm to enhance AI safety and reliability, the principles are to be enacted and announced within the month, reflecting the views of industry, civil society, and academia.
 [코리안투데이] Grand debate on the ‘Republic of Korea AI Ethics Principles’ © 장형임 기자 |
The Ministry of Science and ICT (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon) and the Korea Information Society Development Institute (President Lee Sang-kyu) held a grand debate on the ‘Republic of Korea AI Ethics Principles’ at the Mozart Hall of the President Hotel in Seoul on August 14.
Held under the theme ‘AI for All, AI Ethics Principles We Build Together’, the debate drew some 70 participants, including experts from industry, civic groups, and academia as well as ordinary citizens and reporters, and was accompanied by a live online broadcast. It was arranged to allow a range of stakeholders to jointly discuss the key issues of the draft ethics principles now being prepared.
Since late 2025, the government has been establishing these ethics principles as a voluntary norm to be followed by all in order to enhance AI safety and reliability, in accordance with Article 27 of the Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and the Establishment of a Foundation of Trust (AI Framework Act). While inheriting the ‘Artificial Intelligence Ethics Standards’ drawn up in 2020, the principles newly reflect the rapidly advancing technological trends such as agentic AI and physical AI, as well as the policy environment reorganized following the enforcement of the AI Framework Act. The Ministry of Science and ICT and KISDI released a first draft last May and gathered opinions from industry, civic groups, academia, relevant ministries, and the general public, receiving a total of 116 written comments in preparing the draft ethics principles.
The draft ethics principles consist of three core values — ‘human dignity’, ‘the public good of society’, and ‘the sustainability of humanity’ — and seven principles that underpin them. The seven principles are human-centeredness, privacy protection, fairness and inclusiveness, accountability, safety, reliability, and transparency.
At the event, Professor Lee Sang-wook of Hanyang University’s Department of Philosophy and Department of Artificial Intelligence (Chair of the AI Social Policy Forum) gave a presentation under the theme ‘The Role of Ethics Principles for Innovation and Trust in the AI Era’. Noting that judgment in the development and use of AI is becoming ever more complex as the technology rapidly changes, Professor Lee stressed that ethics principles should not be a factor that constrains innovation but should serve to help sound AI development and use by weighing various considerations together (Ethics as Helper) and to actually make it possible (Ethics as Enabler).
Next, Choi Woo-seok, head of the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Artificial Intelligence Safety and Reliability Support Division, presented the government’s draft ethics principles, after which a general discussion was held with Professor Moon Myung-jae of Yonsei University’s Department of Public Administration (Head of the Coexistence and Innovation Subcommittee of the AI Social Policy Forum) serving as moderator. The panel included Professor Byun Sun-yong of Seoul National University of Education’s Department of Ethics Education (President of the Korean Association for Artificial Intelligence Ethics), Hong Yun-hee, chair of the nonprofit organization Muui, Yoon Myung, secretary-general of the Consumers Korea, Lee Ji-eun, senior manager at the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Kim Hyun-ju, head of a division at the Korea Software Industry Association (KOSA), Kim Kyung-hoon, AI Safety leader at Kakao, and Lee Jin-soo, director-general for AI policy planning at the Ministry of Science and ICT.
During the discussion, Professor Byun Sun-yong said, ‘As AI has become a basic infrastructure of society, we need to move away from viewing AI as something dangerous to be wary of,’ adding, ‘The current draft ethics principles also appear to have made an effort to reflect this direction as much as possible.’ Chair Hong Yun-hee stressed, ‘A diverse range of citizens must be able to take part in the process of developing and using AI, and in particular we must move away from the existing beneficiary-centered approach and regard citizens as subjects who hold rights.’
From industry came the view that the ethics principles should function as a standard that the field can refer to, but should not act as new regulation or a uniform obligation. Leader Kim Kyung-hoon pointed out, ‘We need to make sure ethical recommendations and legal obligations are not confused,’ while division head Kim Hyun-ju said, ‘At a time when new technological issues such as agentic AI and physical AI are emerging, ethics is important in its role of bridging the time gap between legislation and technological development.’ Following the general discussion, a session was also arranged to directly hear the views of on-site and online audiences on desirable ethics principles, implementation measures, and what they hope for from the government.
At a time when AI is rapidly spreading across daily life and industry as a whole, this discussion is significant in that it refines, through citizen participation, the minimum social compact needed for the public to safely enjoy the benefits of the technology. Kim Kyung-man, a director-general at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, ‘The Republic of Korea AI Ethics Principles are a standard that all of us must uphold together for an AI-based society, and we are working to capture the voices of various members of society,’ adding, ‘We will faithfully reflect even the opinions raised at this debate in enacting the ethics principles, and going forward we will actively support all actors — government, businesses, and citizens — so that they can put the principles into practice in their respective positions.’
The draft ethics principles can be viewed on the Ministry of Science and ICT and KISDI ‘AI Ethics Communication Channel’ website (https://ai.kisdi.re.kr). The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to comprehensively review the opinions raised at this open debate, supplement the draft ethics principles, and then enact and announce them within August.
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