Vice minister vows to press ahead with domestic AI foundation model project alongside frontier AI push

Ryu Je-myeong, second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, reaffirmed Friday that the government's ongoing third evaluation round for its homegrown AI foundation model project — known as Dokpamo — will proceed as scheduled, with GPU support and other resources to be provided to the two selected teams as planned.

The remarks came as Ryu moved to quell speculation that the government was winding down the Dokpamo project, stressing that it would be pursued in parallel with a separate frontier AI development initiative.

Speaking at a briefing held Friday at the National Information Society Agency's Seoul office in Jung-gu, Ryu said the ministry plans to conduct the third Dokpamo evaluation tentatively in February next year, select two elite teams and proceed as originally planned.

The concerns stem from a string of frontier-class AI model releases by the United States, China and other rival nations, which prompted criticism — including from within the Ministry of Science and ICT — that South Korea's flagship national AI project was falling behind the pace of global development.

Those concerns deepened when Deputy Prime Minister and Science Minister Bae Gyeong-hun publicly called for South Korea to take on the challenge of developing frontier AI models, fueling suspicions that the government was in effect preparing to shelve the Dokpamo project.

Specific claims also emerged that the government planned to establish a special purpose company, or SPC, to hold a 30 percent stake and lead a multi-company project drawing investment from private firms for the remaining share.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, as the agency responsible, stepped in to contain the fallout. Ryu made clear that the Dokpamo project and the frontier AI development initiative would be pursued in parallel.

"The two elite teams selected through the third Dokpamo evaluation will receive GPU support and other resources as planned," Ryu said. "Dokpamo will continue, but we are reviewing ways to flexibly refine the moving-target development goals, support scale and methods outlined in the project guidelines."

He added that while the two initiatives would be pursued separately, "the goal of developing a homegrown AI model will be strengthened further, and the project is set to evolve in a direction that expands its scope and depth."

On eligibility for the frontier AI project, Ryu said the government aims to prioritize the likelihood of success over financial capacity, envisioning a structure open to a broad range of companies, universities and researchers rather than large conglomerates alone. "We are reviewing a plan to invest through an open call and selection process for the SPC, and are technically examining the specific criteria and details," he said.

Ryu also underscored the urgency of pursuing frontier AI development. "Since the emergence of Mythos last April, advances in global AI technology have been a shock not of fine-tuning policy but of lifting the entire target," he said. "The government has a responsibility to constantly deliberate and respond flexibly to a fundamentally transformed AI landscape."

He added that Deputy Prime Minister Bae's remarks should be understood as meaning the government would "broadly review ways to secure additional GPUs and support a wider range of companies so that Dokpamo can be used more extensively across various industries and research settings — alongside proceeding with the Dokpamo project as planned." Ryu said Dokpamo itself would "evolve and advance to expand the domestic AI ecosystem."