South Korea's first global AI summit for children and youth held in Incheon

Incheon hosted a global forum where children and youth in the age of AI came together to discuss the technology's future and explore new directions in education.

The 2026 Kids AI Summit — South Korea's first child- and youth-led global AI conference — was held Saturday at the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education's AI Convergence Education Center.

About 250 students and education professionals from South Korea, Hong Kong and elsewhere gathered to exchange views on the future of AI and its implications for education.

The event stood out for departing from the conventional format in which AI experts deliver one-way lectures to students. Rather than treating young people as passive users of AI, it positioned them as active participants shaping future discourse.

Elementary, middle and high school students from across the country attended alongside parents and educators. Students shared their thoughts on AI, exchanged ideas with peers and education professionals, and reflected on the skills and competencies needed in an AI-driven era.

The keynote address was delivered by Kim Sung-yun, CEO of iPortfolio Reading&, who spoke on "The Most Important Education in the Age of AI." Kim discussed how AI is reshaping human thinking and learning, what capabilities future talent will need, and the direction English education should take.

"The more AI handles finding, summarizing and generating information, the more humans need the ability to read, think, question and express their own ideas — not merely absorb information passively," Kim said.

Kim also said English education must move beyond simple score improvement toward building the competencies needed to grow into global citizens who can understand diverse cultures and perspectives and communicate across them.

The lecture also introduced a learning model developed by Reading& that connects reading, critical thinking and expression in AI-era education, illustrated through the company's AI-based English education cases.

New AI-driven education tools were also presented, including the LISA™ Growth Report, which analyzes student progress data throughout the learning process without separate testing, and Harmony Hills, a program designed to expose students to diverse cultures and perspectives.

Sean McMinn of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Jason Kiper, a professor at George Mason University Korea, also delivered special lectures — on AI and human agency, and on learning and autonomy in the AI age, respectively.

The event was co-hosted by Unione Communications and the Hong Kong Smart City Consortium and organized by UCG Playground, with support from the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education and the Korea Tourism Organization.