SK chairman calls for deeper South Korea-Japan economic ties

April 28 (Asia Today) -- SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won said South Korea should pursue economic integration with Japan and lead a broader Asian economic alliance to survive intensifying competition for artificial intelligence dominance.

Choi made the remarks Tuesday during a National Assembly seminar hosted by the Korea-China Parliamentarians' Union on South Korea's growth strategy amid the U.S.-China race for AI technological supremacy.

He said South Korea must urgently rethink its national growth strategy as AI reshapes the global economy. He called for conditions to build 10 to 20 gigawatts of AI data centers annually and for systems to evaluate and reward companies that help address social problems caused by AI adoption.

But Choi said South Korea lacks abundant resources such as electricity and water needed to support large-scale AI data centers.

"The cost of building a 1-gigawatt AI data center is about $50 billion, which is not small," Choi said. "Less than 5% of data centers in South Korea can be used for AI."

Choi said South Korea should consider deeper economic integration with Japan as it faces intensifying rivalry between the United States and China.

"I am not sure whether we have the ability to respond on our own amid U.S.-China conflict," he said, noting South Korea's economy is far smaller than those of China and the United States.

"To have enough economic power to affect the United States and China, we need to join hands with someone, and Japan could give us that level of strength," Choi said. "The combined economic scale would increase to $6 trillion, allowing us to negotiate on a more equal footing while defending our own interests and voice."

Choi said the partnership should eventually develop into an Asian union.

His remarks expand on his earlier proposal for a South Korea-Japan economic community, which he outlined in 2023 at the Trans-Pacific Dialogue hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies in Middleburg, Va. At the time, he called for economic integration with Japan in areas such as energy, semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries before expanding cooperation to other Asian countries.

Choi said such a framework could help induce North Korea to open and reconnect South Korea to the Asian continent, overcoming the country's geopolitical limits.

"As we enter the AI era, we must prevent its harms while reshaping our geopolitical position," Choi said.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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