What if South Korea could create a virtual replica of its entire territory? This would involve accurately modeling roads, buildings, rivers, and land, allowing AI to analyze urban development, disaster response, and traffic issues in advance.
This is the vision of Oh Myung-soo, president of the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation (LX), which has transitioned from land surveying to developing a 'digital twin territory' that AI can interpret and assess.
To enable AI to influence the real world, certain elements are essential. While semiconductors, power, and data are crucial, one key requirement is information about 'space.'
Autonomous vehicles need to understand road layouts, delivery robots must know building locations, and drones must identify flight paths. An AI managing a city must comprehend the locations and conditions of buildings, roads, rivers, and land.
The data that teaches AI about the real South Korea is known as 'spatial information.'
This is why LX is gaining attention in the AI era. For years, LX has recorded and managed the land of South Korea through land surveying. Now, its role is evolving from a 'land measurement agency' to an organization focused on digitizing the nation's territory.
At the heart of this initiative is the digital twin technology.
A digital twin is a technology that creates a three-dimensional virtual representation of real cities and territories. It translates real-world roads, buildings, rivers, and terrains into data for the virtual space.
LX's 'Digital Land Platform' supports administrative functions based on this three-dimensional spatial information. As of 2026, it offers a total of 70 digital twin services utilized by 38 institutions and countries.
The applications are diverse, including reviewing building permits and analyzing wind patterns in urban areas. It identifies regions lacking CCTV coverage for installation and manages river conditions.
In the past, responses were formulated after issues arose, but with digital twins, policymakers can preview outcomes in virtual space before implementing policies.
This marks a shift from 'on-site decision-making' to 'preliminary simulations for decision-making.'
When AI is integrated, the potential for change expands significantly. While digital twins replicate the real South Korea in virtual space, AI serves as the brain that reads, analyzes, and predicts based on the accumulated data.
By analyzing data on roads, buildings, population, traffic, weather, and disasters, AI can identify areas at high risk of problems. It can also assess potential changes in surrounding areas when new buildings or roads are constructed.
LX has established 'LX AI-Territory Space Innovation and Leading Public Services' as the first pillar of its 2026 national agenda, promoting 'Twin Territory-based National Spatial Information AI Transition.' In this structure, spatial information becomes the data for AI, and digital twins serve as AI's laboratory.
The ultimate vision of this transformation is the 'AI Territory.' For instance, if heavy rainfall is anticipated, there is no need to wait for rain to fall in reality. By inputting expected precipitation into the digital twin, it can analyze which rivers are likely to flood and which roads may become submerged.
Urban development follows a similar approach. Before constructing large apartment complexes or buildings, planners can first examine how traffic flow, wind patterns, and surrounding environments will change in virtual space.
With AI's integration, numerous scenarios can be analyzed to support decision-making, allowing for multiple trials of costly failures in the digital realm before real-world implementation. Essentially, the entire nation becomes a single AI simulation space.
Drones also play a crucial role in connecting the real territory to the digital space. Drones capture images of the land and facilities, collecting data on changes in the field. This information is combined with spatial data to reflect in the digital twin, where AI analyzes the changes.
LX is also expanding its efforts to integrate advanced technologies like AI, drones, and digital twins into land information management and land re-surveying.
To create an AI territory, a 'data-driven' approach must be prioritized. Equally important as flashy AI services is the information system that supports them.
LX's initiative to undertake a 3.9 billion won project for '2027 LX Information System Integrated Maintenance' should be viewed from this perspective. This project aims to consolidate the maintenance systems of 24 information systems, including land surveying application portals and ERP, standardizing fragmented source codes and operational procedures, automating builds and deployments through CI/CD integration, and updating outdated operating systems and databases to modern environments.
The starting point for AI transition ultimately lies in data and systems. If information is scattered and systems are not interconnected, AI will struggle to function effectively.
Before establishing an AI territory, it is essential to first prepare a digital foundation where AI can operate.
Physical AI will also require a 'map.'
LX's spatial information is likely to become increasingly important in the era of physical AI. For robots, autonomous vehicles, and drones to navigate the real world, they must know their locations and destinations.
While humans can rely on addresses and maps, machines require much more precise and structured spatial information.
If the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation creates a factory where AI and robots work, LX is different. LX is the agency that creates a digital map enabling AI and robots to operate throughout South Korea.
As AI becomes more integrated into the real world, the value of accurate spatial information increases. Transitioning from a land measurement agency to an 'AI Territory Platform.'
Oh Myung-soo stated, 'We will take the lead in the digitalization of national infrastructure,' indicating a commitment to completing the digital twin based on the LX platform promptly.
LX's mid-term strategy for 2026-2030 also includes 'leading the digital transformation of national space' alongside strengthening AI capabilities and expanding AI and platform services.
This is why LX's transformation should not be viewed merely as the digitalization of surveying tasks.
Whereas LX once surveyed the land of South Korea, it is now creating a digital territory that mirrors reality, allowing AI to analyze and predict outcomes. This marks the dawn of an era where the entire nation is represented as a digital twin, enabling advanced analysis of urban planning, traffic, disaster management, and land development—this is the future of the 'AI Territory' envisioned by LX.
: Oh Myung-soo, President of the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation:
Oh Myung-soo is a land transportation expert who has served as the second vice minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, director of the Transportation Logistics Division, and director of Comprehensive Transportation Policy. He became president of LX in November 2023, focusing on advancing land surveying technology, digitalizing national infrastructure, and expanding digital twin platforms. Recently, he has emphasized combining spatial information with AI to transform LX into a 'Digital Land Platform Agency.'
* This article has been translated by AI.
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