As South Korea pledges to invest over 100 trillion won ($74 billion) in artificial intelligence (AI), it positions itself as a bold contender in the global AI race. With cutting-edge tech companies, strong infrastructure, and top-tier talent, South Korea should be poised for success.
But beneath the surface lies a deepening dilemma, which raises uncomfortable questions about who really benefits from AI innovation, and who gets left behind.
In South Korea, AI isn’t just a technological challenge. It’s a battleground of power. While elite professional groups – like lawyers, doctors, and tax accountants – have repeatedly blocked AI-driven reforms that threaten their authority, socially and economically marginalized communities have found themselves on the losing end of rapid change, often without the skills or support to adapt.
The resistance to AI innovation hasn’t come from the usual suspects – governments, regulators, or international competitors. Instead, it has come from within.
Take Tada, the ride-hailing service that once promised a smarter alternative to South Korea’s aging taxi system. Despite initial success, Tada was forced to shut down after fierce backlash from taxi unions and subsequent legal restrictions. What could have been South Korea’s answer to Uber ended not with a market failure, but with political retreat under pressure from an entrenched group.
The pattern has repeated itself in other fields. The law firm DR & AJU’s AI chatbot, a platform offering legal consultations, was fiercely opposed by the Korean Bar Association, which accused the service of undermining the legal profession. 3o3, an AI-driven tax refund service, ran into conflict with the Korean Association of Certified Public Tax Accountants. DoctorNow, a telemedicine startup, drew the ire of pharmacists and doctors wary of losing their traditional roles.
In each case, resistance wasn’t rooted in the technology’s immaturity or public distrust. It was a calculated defense of professional territory.
These groups – often well-organized, politically connected, and vocal – have shown that in South Korea, innovation can be throttled not because of its feasibility, but because of its threat to legacy power structures. AI, in this context, doesn’t represent just progress. It represents disruption, and not everyone welcomes it.
While South Korea’s powerful professionals are busy erecting barriers to protect their turf, another group is being left behind entirely: the socially and economically marginalized.
In the rush toward automation and AI adoption, little attention has been paid to those whose livelihoods are most at risk. In convenience stores and fast-food chains, kiosks have steadily replaced human cashiers. In logistics, AI-driven systems have begun to streamline warehousing and delivery – often at the cost of entry-level labor. Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant America (HMGMA) in the U.S. state of Georgia reportedly employs more robots than people.
These changes may boost productivity, but for many low-skilled workers, they signal displacement rather than opportunity. South Korea has lagged in creating meaningful pathways for vulnerable workers to transition into the AI economy.
This exclusion is not just economic; it’s also informational. AI literacy remains low across older populations, rural communities, and lower-income groups. Without access to training or education, these citizens are often treated as passive recipients of change, rather than active participants in shaping it.
When innovation is blocked by entrenched resistance and society remains fragmented, the cost isn’t limited to inequality – it becomes a barrier to national progress itself.
The Korean government’s ambitious plan to invest 100 trillion won in AI sends a strong signal of intent. But if this capital flows into the hands of already-protected industries, reinforces regulatory capture, or funds automation without safeguards for displaced workers, it risks doing more harm than good. Without inclusive planning, such investments could accelerate inequality instead of innovation.
This is not a uniquely South Korean problem. Across the world, fast follower countries are beginning to confront the same paradox.
If South Korea truly wants to become an AI powerhouse, it must go beyond building smarter machines. It needs to create a fairer system that lowers barriers, supports the vulnerable, and ensures everyone has a place in the future it envisions.