The Ministry of Science and ICT presented its rollout preparation plan at a kickoff meeting at the Korea Press Center in Seoul.
Each group showed prototypes and video demonstrations of assistants that move beyond answering questions to handling tasks such as searches, applications, and payments on a user's behalf.
The Kakao consortium said it would deliver a general chatbot and public-sector AI agents through familiar channels such as KakaoTalk and voice calls, drawing on domestic models including Kakao's Kanana and LG's Exaone.
The consortium plans to build a platform that completes tasks within a single conversation, later expanding to personal agents and an open agent marketplace.
The KT consortium introduced "Ieum," a real-time search-based agent linking specialized services across about 10 fields spanning public administration, education, and shopping.
It runs on an AI operating platform called Token Factory that integrates domestic models with graphics and neural processing chips to route each query to the best-suited model.
SK Telecom said its service would carry users from identity verification through application and payment, adding phone and text-based agents so people who struggle with mobile apps or websites can still tap the technology.
"The ultimate goal of the AI for All project is for new homegrown AI services to settle naturally into people's daily lives," Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said, urging the consortiums to pool their efforts toward a launch this year that opens a fresh domestic market for AI firms.
AJP Takeaways
- SK Telecom, Kakao and KT consortiums unveiled plans on Sept. 4 to launch homegrown "action-oriented" AI services in South Korea before the end of 2026, under the government's AI for All project.
- The services, built on domestic models including Kakao's Kanana and LG's Exaone, aim to handle searches, applications, bookings and payments for users, with KT's "Ieum" agent linking specialized services across about 10 fields.
- Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon said the goal is for the services to settle into daily life, calling on the consortiums to meet the year-end launch target.
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