Korea's science ministry partners with Shinhan on about 1,000 digital tutors

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) said it had joined Shinhan Financial Group in an agreement to strengthen artificial-intelligence skills and digital-finance safety for vulnerable people. Under the agreement, Shinhan will support training about 1,000 specialist instructors.

The agreement, signed in Seoul on Aug. 4, pairs the ministry's digital-inclusion programme with the financial group's education resources and financial-crime prevention work for people facing difficulty using digital technology every day.

Before the agreement, the ministry operated 69 AI Digital Learning Centers, offering training on smartphone and kiosk use to help people who struggle with digital technology use it in their everyday lives. During this year, it is strengthening foundational AI instruction, including practical exercises using generative AI, for participants at these centers as part of a broader effort to narrow gaps for vulnerable people.

Shinhan already runs four education centers for older people, where it teaches mobile banking and protection against voice phishing in Incheon, Suwon, Busan and Gwangju as part of its financial education efforts. MSIT has designated the Incheon center as an AI Digital Learning Center, making it part of the ministry's existing network for digitally vulnerable learners who need support in building their skills.

The partners said the accord responds to rapid socioeconomic changes caused by the AI transition and to the need for greater support for older and other vulnerable people in South Korea. They said closer cooperation between public institutions and private-sector companies is essential to protect vulnerable people from increasingly sophisticated smishing and deepfake fraud accompanying the digital transition in Korea.

Under the agreement, Shinhan will support the use of unused space at major hubs nationwide as additional AI Digital Learning Centers for digitally vulnerable people across Korea as the ministry expands its programme. The ministry said it will work to expand its network and Shinhan will support the use of unused space at major hubs nationwide as AI Digital Learning Centers for vulnerable people.

MSIT is pursuing training for about 1,000 specialist AI and digital instructors with practical experience, so older people and others can receive education suited to their abilities. Shinhan will provide financial-education teaching specialists and financial-safety content to the ministry's instructor-training courses, bringing financial know-how and safety material into that specialist programme for future AI and digital tutors nationwide.

The ministry will develop step-by-step AI and digital material for vulnerable people, incorporating Shinhan's financial education and financial-safety programmes designed for everyday use within the learning curriculum at those centers. Shinhan also plans to link an AI Digital Learning Center application route within the group's main mobile platform, making enrolment available to a wider range of users.

Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said equitable access to AI and digital benefits was vital, while Chairman Jin Ok-dong called education a safeguard for assets against financial fraud. The ministry said it would seek and scale public-private examples such as the centers, while Shinhan pledged to use its online and offline infrastructure so people are not excluded from digital change. Separately, MSIT and Korea's National Information Society Agency (NIA) conducted the 2025 Digital Information Gap Survey to review annual policy results and guide policy direction.