Korea finance ministry, small-business lobby push AI adoption at Jeju forum

The finance ministry and the Korea Federation of SMEs co-hosted a policy forum in Jeju on Wednesday on how small and mid-sized companies should respond to the rise of physical AI, with Vice Minister Kwon Dae-young pledging that the government would bundle fiscal, tax, financial and regulatory tools into a single push.

"For the spread of physical AI, the Ministry of Economy and Finance will become one team with the relevant ministries and bind fiscal, tax, financial and regulatory measures together," Kwon said in a video address, adding that AI had moved off the screen and onto the factory floor.

The event, titled "In the physical AI era, what is the innovation strategy for SMEs?", drew about 200 people to the Lotte Hotel Jeju, including federation chairman Kim Ki-moon, physical AI specialists and representatives of small and mid-sized companies.

Park Young-sun, who chairs the ministry's strategic economic advisory group, delivered the keynote address, arguing that companies need to overhaul both their work processes and their manufacturing sites to keep up with the shift toward agentic and physical AI. "In response to the new wave that runs from agentic AI to physical AI, innovation of work itself and of the manufacturing site itself is necessary," she said.

The finance ministry said it would keep looking for policies to support small and mid-sized companies' AI transition, drawing on the issues raised at the forum.