NAVER Cloud to Co-Chair National Public-Private “K-AI Partnership” to Drive AI Ecosystem Expansion
NAVER Cloud to Co-Chair National Public-Private “K-AI Partnership” to Drive AI Ecosystem Expansion
NAVER Cloud to Co-Chair National Public-Private “K-AI Partnership” to Drive AI Ecosystem Expansion
April 29, 2026
NAVER Cloud (CEO Kim Yu-won) announced its appointment as co-chair of the K-AI Partnership, a national AI alliance organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), alongside the Korea Artificial Intelligence and Software Industry Association (KOSA).
Launched with the support of the MSIT, the K-AI Partnership is South Korea’s first comprehensive public-private AI alliance uniting industry, academia, and research institutions. It aims to consolidate national AI Transformation (AX) capabilities amid the global AI race and facilitate the joint global expansion of large enterprises and SMEs. Unlike traditional academic or networking groups, the partnership operates as an execution-oriented collaborative body. By leveraging cross-sector participation, it seeks to identify industrial demands, direct business connections, and generate tangible export results.
Kim and KOSA Chairman Joh Joon-hee will jointly chair the partnership. This alliance marks a significant milestone by establishing a core leadership team that unites an industry-wide association with a private enterprise possessing practical technological capabilities.
Having validated its technological prowess through major national projects, NAVER Cloud, South Korea’s leading AI company, has bridged the public and private sectors to spearhead mutual growth with SMEs and startups.
Leveraging this experience, NAVER Cloud will actively support the design of business models and technical cooperation for the K-AI Partnership. The company plans to organically integrate the infrastructure of large enterprises with the innovative technologies of startups to reinforce the fundamental competitiveness of South Korea’s AI sector. Furthermore, it will serve as a field-oriented policy channel, aggregating feedback from participating companies to drive practical institutional improvements.
“The AI industry has evolved into a field where success can no longer be achieved by a single company’s capabilities alone; possibilities now expand in direct proportion to the scale of cooperation,” said Kim. “A true AI ecosystem is realized only when the technological prowess and infrastructure of large corporations combine with the agile execution of SMEs and startups, alongside the research capabilities of industry, academia, and research institutions.”
Kim added, “Drawing on our accumulated AI technology and platform capabilities, NAVER Cloud will collaborate with alliance members to generate practical AX outcomes across diverse industrial sectors.”
Following its launch ceremony on April 28, the K-AI Partnership aims to establish itself as an industry execution platform for field-oriented business creation, convening bi-monthly meetings for its three core subcommittees.
