Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honor to officially open the 2nd Summit on Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM).

Let me extend a warm welcome to my fellow ministers, distinguished representatives from various disciplines, and experts who have joined us in Seoul to participate in this invaluable endeavor to establish responsible AI.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the visionary leadership of the Netherlands in launching the REAIM Summit in 2023.

I also express my gratitude to Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom who join as co-hosts this year and the 62 organizations contributing to 47 breakout sessions.

Distinguished Guests,

Artificial intelligence holds an immense potential to transform our daily lives and to fundamentally reshape our future.
The advancement of AI brings with it not only the excitement of innovation and opportunities but also questions about where this path will ultimately lead.

The development of AI in the military domain, in particular, is unfolding in ways we could scarcely have imagined.

Since the bronze warrior Talos in Greek mythology, humanity has long been fascinated by the idea of machines that both resemble us and protect us.

Today’s military AI, however, goes beyond mere imitation. Rather, it is transforming the entire dynamics of military operation, emerging as our strategist, field commander, and soldiers, and often blurring the line between them.

In the meantime, our geopolitical situation is becoming increasingly volatile. Recent years have seen the most serious acts of aggression which challenge the very foundation of rules-based international order.

Faced with profound uncertainties on both technological and geopolitical fronts, it is all the more imperative that we set the norms and governance for responsible AI to ensure international peace and security and to preserve human dignity.

To this end, I offer that this Summit must serve to facilitate global discussion on three A’s: Assessment, Application, and Anchoring governance.

First, assessment.

We must foster a balanced understanding of the impact of AI on international peace and security.

This understanding will allow us to establish the minimum guardrails necessary to prevent devastating consequences of AI in the military domain.

For instance, AI must not contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, nor undermine international peace and security, nor should it ever pose a threat to human civilization.

Second, application.

We should pool our wisdom on how we can apply our commitment to responsible AI on the ground.

Let us carefully break down what it means to be ‘responsible’ and unpack the issues related to the core principles to begin translating them into concrete actions.

The discussions will include concrete measures such as: legal review to ensure compliance with international law; mechanisms to prevent autonomous weapons from making life-and-death decisions without appropriate human oversight; and safeguards against the misuse of AI.

These much needed discussions will lay the foundation for the norms on responsible AI.

Third, anchoring governance.

We must discuss the governance framework that will anchor our guardrails and specific actions for responsible AI.

Here, the rapidly advancing AI technology requires us to establish an agile governance.

Achieving this cannot be the work of states alone; it demands an inclusive multi-stakeholder approach.

This is the unique strength of REAIM process as a forum where diverse expertise and insights are embraced.

As we undertake these tasks at hand, I would like to draw some lessons learned from history.

Exactly 75 years ago, the international community set an inspirational example of what it can achieve when united by a common purpose, by adopting the Geneva Conventions.

These watershed documents laid the foundation for protecting human dignity in times of war.

Unfortunately, they came into being in the aftermath of world wars that claimed countless lives.

As we enter a new era with AI, we must move forward with the same unity of purpose to develop the norms fit for our time―and before our time is up.

As the first multilateral and multi-stakeholder forum on military AI, the REAIM Summit bears testimony to the common purpose that binds us.

For Korea’s part, in particular, in line with our aspiration to serve as a Global Pivotal State (GPS), we are committed to working with global partners to align the development, deployment and use of AI with our shared values.

In the military AI space, the Republic of Korea will continue to bring the critical agenda of responsible AI to the forefront of the global agenda, as an early champion of the REAIM process.

In the civilian AI space, too, the Republic of Korea will do its part by upholding the comprehensive vision laid out in Seoul Declaration for Safe, Innovative and Inclusive AI, adopted during the AI Seoul Summit in May this year.

Let me close with a quote from late Dr. Stephen Hawking: “Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to a the risks.”

As we stand at a fork in the road, the choices we make today will set the course for the generations to come.

Let us embrace our responsibility to ensure a safer tomorrow.

Thank you.