Seoul, London to co-host summit to discuss potential of AI in innovation, inclusion

South Korea and the United Kingdom will jointly host a summit in Seoul in May to discuss artificial intelligence technology's potential to achieve innovation and inclusion at an international level, and its safe development, the presidential office said Friday.

The hybrid event "AI Seoul Summit" is scheduled to take place from May 21-22. On day one, leaders will hold virtual discussion sessions co-chaired by President Yoon Suk Yeol and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The next day, an in-person ministerial-level meeting will be held in Seoul, co-hosted by Science Minister Lee Jong-ho and his UK counterpart Michelle Donelan.

Yoon's office did not clarify the venue or the attendees of the event.

The meeting will be a follow-up of the "AI Safety Summit" held in Bletchley, UK, in November, where leaders of countries including the United States, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Singapore and South Korea attended, according to Yoon's office in a statement.

Yoon last met Sunak in late November at 10 Downing Street in London, as Yoon was on a state visit to the UK three weeks after the AI Safety Summit.

The "AI Seoul Summit" will be held following Yoon's proposal in September during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly to host the "Global AI Forum" to "provide concrete directions for the development of AI governance," his office added.