Finance ministry, KDI host G20 conference on AI and supply chain risks

The finance ministry said Tuesday it co-hosted the 2026 G20 Global Financial Stability Conference with the Korea Development Institute at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, bringing together about 300 senior figures from the domestic and international economic and financial sectors.

The conference focused on the challenges that structural changes — including the spread of artificial intelligence and the reorganization of supply chains — pose to the world economy and financial stability, and on policy responses.

"The spread of AI and the reorganization of supply chains are emerging as new risk factors that could threaten financial market stability," said Hur Jang, the ministry's second vice minister, in his opening remarks.

Hur proposed three directions for policy: managing AI-related financial risks preemptively, securing fiscal room to absorb future shocks, and building a "double safety net" that links the global financial safety net with supply chain resilience. He also said the government would contribute actively to global financial stability discussions as a member of the G20 troika from next year, ahead of South Korea's assumption of the G20 presidency in 2028, and would turn cooperation among member countries into concrete results.

The event opened with addresses from Hur and KDI President Kim Se-jik, followed by keynote speeches from Laura Alfaro, chief economist at the Inter-American Development Bank, and Markus Brunnermeier, a professor at Princeton University. Brunnermeier said the spread of AI technology was changing the way financial markets trade and make decisions while potentially creating market instability and new risks for the financial system. Kim said countries need to share their experiences and jointly seek creative policy ideas and directions for international cooperation to respond to new risks.

The program was organized into three sessions: resilience of the world economy and financial stability; financial stability risks and policy tasks arising from AI innovation; and financial stability risks and policy tasks stemming from the restructuring of global supply chains.

The ministry and KDI have held the financial stability conference jointly every year since 2013.

Building on the discussions, the ministry said it will continue to seek a balance between AI innovation and financial stability and to contribute to G20-level policy coordination and international cooperation aimed at strengthening the resilience of the global financial system.