A new Korean policy report argues that the country should define AI sovereignty by its ability to operate, control and replace AI systems rather than by trying to develop every part of the technology stack domestically. The report, released by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies together with Seoul National University’s Center for Future Strategy, focuses on national security and competitiveness in the era of agentic AI.
Its central argument is that complete technological self-sufficiency is neither necessary nor realistic. Instead, Korea should be able to combine domestic and overseas AI models, switch providers when needed and keep critical government and industrial functions running even if access to a particular foreign service is interrupted. That approach treats operational resilience as the core of sovereignty rather than the nationality of every model or component.
The report also points to Korea’s strengths in memory chips, data centers and advanced manufacturing as leverage in the global AI ecosystem. The policy implication is that Korea may gain more strategic value by controlling infrastructure, deployment and continuity than by duplicating every layer of the AI stack. The idea adds a practical dimension to the domestic debate over sovereign AI, where investment choices will increasingly involve trade-offs between local model development and access to the best available global systems.