1 week Ago By The Korea Herald
From biotech to K-pop, leaders across industries explore how AI can amplify human potential From Celltrion Chair Seo Jung-jin to K-pop star G-Dragon, "Squid Game" star Lee Jung-jae and Go legend Lee Se-dol — Innovate Korea 2025 brought together leaders from across industries, connecting them over a single theme: humanity in the age of artificial intelligence. The event unfolded into a festival of technology and the arts — a stage where innovation itself became a celebration of humanity and connection. “Ironically, the key to surviving in this world lies with humans.
We need to come together, harness AI as a tool and achieve shared goals — not by outpacing machines, but by outthinking them.” This message from Angel Robotics CEO Kong Kyoung-Chul resonated with the crowd at KAIST’s Lyu Keun-chul Sports Complex in Daejeon on Wednesday — capturing the awe and unease felt as humanity stands at the edge of the AI era. Marking its ninth year as one of South Korea’s largest annual science and technology forums, Innovate Korea is jointly hosted by Herald Media Group, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the National Research Council of Science & Technology.
This year’s event drew some 10,000 participants, bringing together science enthusiasts from all walks of life — from scholars and scientists to entrepreneurs, government officials and students. Herald Media Group CEO Choi Jin-young delivered the opening remarks, followed by congratulatory speeches from First Vice Minister of Science and ICT Lee Chang-yune and KAIST President Lee Kwang-hyung. Opening the event was a keynote speech from biopharm giant Celltrion founder and Chair Seo Jung-jin.
He reflected on his own story of starting the company 25 years ago, with just 50 million won ($35,200) and five employees, then building it into Korea’s largest biopharmaceuticals powerhouse. “You need to be desperate enough to push yourself to the edge of a cliff — and whatever it is you do, you have to enjoy it,” Seo told the crowd. “When someone throws themselves into their work like crazy, the whole world will come looking for them.
” The spotlight turned to "Squid Game" star and filmmaker Lee Jung-jae, who joined a discussion on the future of Korean content in a technology-saturated world. Lee, also co-founder of talent agency Artist Company, argued that Korea’s creative strength was forged in an era of scarcity. “Back then, we didn’t have enough resources, so we focused on the story itself and the values we wanted to convey,” he said.
“That grit and determination to overcome limits brought us to where we are today.” The challenge now, he said, is not access to technology — it is using it without losing sight of human emotion. “Technology is just a tool,” he said.
“What matters is how we merge it with story.” One of the day’s most unexpected highlights came from robots, which took center stage between sessions to show off their latest moves. KAIST’s robotics club staged a playful reenactment of the infamous Red Light, Green Light scene — complete with robots — with Lee gamely joining in to the crowd’s delight.
But the day’s most powerful moment came when scientist Kim Seung-hwan, who has paralysis of the legs, rose from his wheelchair with the help of the WalkOn Suit F1, a wearable robot co-developed by Angel Robotics and KAIST. The audience, which held its breath while he made several attempts to stand, erupted in applause at his eventual success — a moving testament to the event’s theme of technology and human resilience. It was a fitting opener for the talk that followed, devoted to the idea that extraordinary breakthroughs often emerge from failure.
“Even as a robot-maker, I’m overwhelmed by the speed of AI,” Angel Robotics CEO Kong Kyoung-Chul said, acknowledging the paradox of working at the cutting edge of robotics while worrying about the implications. “With AI accelerating technological evolution at an unprecedented pace and global competition growing fiercer by the day, we must find a way to stay afloat,” said Kong. “That starts with looking inward — to our humanity.
Rather than be overtaken, we should harness AI as a tool and turn this moment into an opportunity to come together in pursuit of shared goals.” Joining the conversation, retired Go master Lee Se-dol — whose landmark 2016 series of matches against Google’s AlphaGo marked both triumph and defeat for humanity against AI — reflected on the personal toll of that moment. “People say I retired, but honestly, I ran away,” Lee said.
AI irrevocably changed the ancient game, leaving him to feel he had little choice but to walk away. “Go used to be about discovering new paths through trial and error,” he said. “But after AlphaGo, that world collapsed.
” Yet the game did not quite end for Lee, it simply moved beyond the board. Earlier this year, he joined Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology as a professor of engineering and AI. That spirit of creative reinvention is, to Lee, the enduring essence of Go itself.
“For me, it wasn't winning that mattered for me in playing Go,” he said. “It was about creating something together with your opponent — learning through mistakes, building a masterpiece together. It’s hard.
I failed. But I still believe there’s meaning in holding on to that value.” Adding bursts of color and energy between the day’s conversations were performances that briefly turned the forum into a K-pop showcase.
The first to take the stage was KAIST’s student dance crew Lunatic, whose high-energy routine brought a flash of youthful sparkle. They were followed by a star-studded lineup of K-pop artists. Drenched in shimmer and swagger, Chungha lit up the stage with electrifying dance hits like “Stress” and “Gotta Go.
” Singer-rapper Bibi had the crowd swaying in unison with a singalong to her viral hit “Bam Yang Gang.” And Sunmi, answering the crowd’s thunderous cheers, closed her set with an impromptu encore. The day's finale flourished with the appearance of G-Dragon — or, as he was introduced on stage, professor Kwon Ji-yong.
It was his first public appearance under the new title since his appointment by KAIST as a visiting professor at last year's Innovate Korea, as part of the school’s push into “enter-tech,” an emerging field exploring the intersection of entertainment and AI. Considered a well-rounded creator involved in every part of his work, Kwon said technology, especially AI, has become an essential tool expanding the boundaries of his creativity, both on and off the stage. “I believe science and art converge at a single point: in their pursuit of creating something new,” he said.
“Both strive to offer something meaningful to people, whether it’s sparking joy or improving their lives in some way.” To the next generation of scientists and creators, Kwon’s advice was simple: Stay curious. “I look for questions, not answers,” he said.
“It’s more like exploring than studying — chasing whatever sparks your curiosity or just makes you happy. And if you keep imagining — I can tell you this from experience — there comes a moment when that imagination becomes real. Keep expanding your imagination.
” Among the projects unveiled Wednesday was a space-bound music transmission, a milestone from Kwon’s collaboration with KAIST. Following the forum, his latest hit "Home Sweet Home" was beamed into space via an antenna aboard a next-generation satellite launched on Korea’s Nuri rocket. It marked the first time a Korean artist’s song had been transmitted from Earth into space using a ground-based satellite antenna.
He also premiered an music video for the song, created using Sora, a text-to-video platform from Microsoft's Azure OpenAI. “Personally, it feels like I’m sending the song back to where it belongs,” the musician noted about the sound transmission project. “It’s a song filled with nostalgia for me, which makes this moment even more special.
It still feels very surreal. I hope it finds its home safely.” In a further push to bridge entertainment and technology, Kwon’s agency Galaxy Corp.
— which explores the future of entertainment through digital innovations like the metaverse and AI — held a signboard hanging ceremony with KAIST to launch the AI Enter-Tech Research Center. The facility will advance science and technology to support the global growth of Korean culture..
