South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol urges the International Monetary Fund to strengthen global cooperation... leading artificial intelligence innovation

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choo Kyung-hoe requested the International Monetary Fund to go beyond simply diagnosing risks and instead take on a core role in designing cooperation among countries as uncertainty in the world economy increases. He explained that, amid growing global economic instability triggered by the aftermath of the war in the Middle East, South Korea is rapidly compiling and implementing a supplementary budget, without significantly undermining fiscal soundness, and together emphasized the necessity of international coordination.

On the 17th, Deputy Prime Minister Choo attended the International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting held in Washington, D.C., in the United States, as a representative of the IMF member country representatives, and stated the above position to major countries’ finance ministers and central bank governors. The IMF’s recent report said that the world economy is being hit at the same time by geopolitical shocks and pressure from slowing growth, and it diagnosed that countries should respond according to their own fiscal and monetary conditions. In this context, South Korea has clearly set a direction to push forward both short-term economic responses and medium- to long-term structural reforms.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo specifically pointed out that during the AI transformation period, comprehensive reorganization of the industrial structure, the labor market, and the education system is crucial, and he indicated that South Korea will accelerate related structural reforms. At the same time, based on the judgment that technology gaps may lead to even larger economic disparities, he added that South Korea will actively contribute to helping vulnerable countries develop innovative capabilities in AI. This was interpreted as an intention to treat AI not only as an emerging industry, but as a core foundation that determines productivity, growth potential, and national competitiveness, and to elevate it into an international cooperation agenda.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo then met with the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, explaining South Korea’s policy direction. Managing Director Georgieva praised South Korea for having sufficient fiscal room, saying that efforts to ensure medium-term fiscal soundness will help stabilize fiscal operations. She also expressed concern about South Korea’s global AI hub initiative being advanced and agreed to study cooperation plans to strengthen support for vulnerable countries. Given that international organizations have shown some trust in South Korea’s fiscal operations and the digital cooperation concept, this can be seen for South Korea as an opportunity to expand its voice in foreign policy.

At the invitation of France, this year’s chair country of the Group of Seven, Deputy Prime Minister Choo also attended the G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss global imbalances and key minerals. He explained that addressing global imbalances is difficult to accomplish solely through adjustments by specific countries, and that surplus countries and deficit countries must act together in order to reduce negative spillover effects. He also believed that if major economic regions take the lead in structural reforms such as investing in human capital, including AI education, and in reforms such as pensions, it is highly likely that middle powers and emerging countries will follow. This trend indicates that, in future international economic negotiation mechanisms, fiscal soundness, structural reforms, and closing AI gaps may be discussed more frequently as interconnected core issues.