Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Tuesday that he will travel to the United States and Switzerland this week to meet with leaders of the United Nations (UN) agencies and discuss cooperation to host a UN Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub.
Speaking at a UN AI Hub Hosting Support Task Force meeting at the Government Complex Seoul that afternoon, Kim formalized the government’s bid to bring the UN AI Hub to Korea.
The UN AI Hub is being developed as a global AI cooperation platform that would align AI-related functions from select UN specialized agencies with collaboration from the Korean government and private sector to address a range of international challenges.
If established, the hub would contribute to solving global problems by enabling shared AI infrastructure and joint projects with UN agencies. Korea would be positioned as a gateway for global AI cooperation and could lead AI initiatives centered on foundational social principles for AI.
To support the bid, the government voted at the meeting to form a UN AI Hub Hosting Committee chaired by the prime minister. The committee will be expanded later to include private-sector advisory members as it refines implementation plans.
During his visits, Kim plans to meet leaders at the UN headquarters, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the U.S., and at the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the IOM (International Organization for Migration) in Switzerland to discuss avenues for future cooperation.
Government officials also said Kim is arranging meetings with U.S. officials while in the U.S. He may again meet high-level figures he encountered on his late-January trip, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance, to discuss outstanding issues such as tariff negotiations.