SEOUL, March 18 (Bernama-Yonhap) — South Korea has signed a letter of intent with six United Nations (UN) agencies outlining their willingness to cooperate for the launch of a global hub for artificial intelligence (AI) in the country, the prime minister’s office said Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The document was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday (local time) by officials from the science ministry on the South Korean side.
It was also signed by representatives from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the International Telecommunication Union, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Food Programme and the United Nations Development Programme on the UN side, the office said in a press release.
The signing ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who has been on a two-nation tour of the United States and Switzerland to promote South Korea’s bid to host the AI hub.
The government has billed the hub as a platform bringing together UN bodies, and South Korea’s private and public sectors to produce AI-based solutions to global issues.
Following meetings with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other agency chiefs in New York, Kim met in Geneva with ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo, IOM Director-General Amy Pope and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
During the meetings, Kim stated South Korea’s intention to help developing countries and vulnerable groups through global cooperation in AI, according to his office.
The three agency chiefs expressed their support for the South Korean initiative and agreed to communicate closely over the details of the planned hub, it said.
Upon returning home, Kim plans to explain the project and the outcome of his trip during a public reporting session tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday.
— NNN-BERNAMA-YONHAP