IFS Insight

The AI revolution represents a civilizational turning point surpassing past transformations such as the agricultural, industrial, and information revolutions, fundamentally reshaping human decision-making, labor, and global power structures. The 2016 AlphaGo match served as a critical inflection point that accelerated global AI investment, while South Korea failed to fully capitalize on this opportunity as China rapidly advanced through state-led strategies and technological mobilization. Today, the AI race is dominated by U.S.–China competition, with China demonstrating strong advantages in speed, commercialization, talent, and national innovation systems. In contrast, South Korea faces structural challenges including talent misallocation, regulatory rigidity, and political inaction. To remain competitive, Korea must pursue bold reforms such as attracting global talent, transforming education, leveraging its manufacturing strengths in Physical AI, easing R&D constraints, and strengthening AI-driven diplomacy. As the AI revolution is irreversible, Korea must act decisively to turn this moment of crisis into an opportunity for national advancement.

Amid the relative decline of U.S. hegemony and the shift toward a sphere-of-influence–based international order, East Asia is entering a period of intensified strategic competition marked by U.S.–China rivalry, Russia’s renewed influence, Japan’s rearmament, and North Korea’s entrenched nuclear status backed by China and Russia. As the United States reduces external commitments and emphasizes strategic stability among great powers, South Korea faces growing uncertainty under a potentially weakening U.S. security umbrella. In this environment, Korea must urgently secure greater strategic autonomy by transforming the ROK–U.S. alliance into a more self-reliant partnership, establishing a peaceful nuclear capability foundation within the NPT framework, obtaining operational control of its armed forces, and redefining inter-Korean relations on the basis of assurance and deterrence rather than unattainable goals of denuclearization and immediate unification.

The article frames AI as the latest stage in humanity’s intellectual evolution, following language, writing, and books. Hangul is highlighted as a unique civilizational achievement that enabled mass literacy and today’s K-culture, while the decline of Hanja literacy is seen as a loss of embedded wisdom and meaning. As AI moves from a tool to a knowledge-producing companion, it forces a reconsideration of what it means to be human and how knowledge should be learned and shared. In this context, Korea’s education system is criticized as outdated and overly exam-driven. The CSAT’s multiple-choice structure stifles creativity, while heavy government control undermines university autonomy amid demographic decline. The author argues for long-term, non-political reform focused on creative assessment, critical thinking, and genuine university self-governance to prepare society for the AI era.

This article argues that in the AI era, national competitiveness and security depend fundamentally on the ability to secure and retain talent. Global demand for AI talent far exceeds supply, and compe

Liberal order is collapsing into power politics. Weaker U.S. leadership and China-Russia pressure mean Korea must bolster autonomy, alliances, unity.