As large-scale hacking attacks leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) have recently targeted the financial sector, it has been confirmed that only one representative from the finance industry is among the 56th members of the National AI Strategy Committee, which oversees national AI policy. As the AI Basic Act and the National AI Strategy Committee place emphasis on nurturing the AI industry, security threats exploiting AI are becoming a reality, prompting calls for the financial sector’s security expertise and voice to be more actively reflected in national AI policy.
According to the National AI Strategy Committee and the financial sector on the 7th, only one person currently working in the finance industry is among the 56 strategy committee members: Ryu Jeong-hye, an outside director of Woori Financial Group. The head of the financial regulatory authority, the Financial Services Commissioner, is also absent from the committee.
The Strategy Committee consists of 20 government officials and 36 private sector members, including President Lee Jae-myung and Ha Jeong-woo, the full-time vice-chairman. The private sector members include a large number of experts from industry sectors such as AI, IT, software, semiconductors, and manufacturing, as well as universities and research institutions. Ryu is the only person affiliated with a financial company. Moreover, Ryu is not someone who built her career in the finance industry. She is an IT expert who has been in charge of AI operations at platform companies such as Naver, and she joined Woori Financial Group as an outside director this March. As of the launch of the Strategy Committee, there were effectively “zero” representatives from the financial sector.
The Financial Services Commissioner is also absent from the government officials. Notably, while the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission were not included during last year’s legislative notice period, they were added as government officials in the final enforcement decree; however, the Financial Services Commissioner was ultimately excluded. It is understood that this reflects a perception that views finance as a regulated industry rather than an industry to be nurtured with AI.
Even when expanding the scope to subordinate organizations, participation from the financial sector remains limited. The Strategy Committee has 10 subcommittees and 2 special committees. Among the total of 116 members across these 12 organizations, only four are connected to the financial sector: Ryu, Kim Jun-hwan, an executive officer at Shinhan Financial Group; Han Dong-hwi, a research fellow on the AI Digital Team at Hana Financial Research Institute; and Lee Yong-jae, a professor at UNIST who serves as a member of the Financial Services Commission’s Financial Sector AI Council. In particular, there are no representatives from the financial sector on the special committee dealing with AI security.
Within the financial sector, it is pointed out that the AI Basic Act, which stipulates the establishment of the AI Strategy Committee, and national AI policy have been overly weighted toward industry and technology development from the outset, neglecting preparedness for security threats such as hacking using AI. The AI Basic Act not only provides for research, development, and commercialization support for AI technology but also designates “AI Cluster Zones” aimed at gathering AI companies and research institutions together.
However, provisions to enhance security capabilities in preparation for cases where AI is exploited as a means of cyberattacks such as hacking, or to build response systems within specific industry sectors such as finance, were not included in the law or the enforcement decree.
In response, financial regulators have supplemented the gaps in the AI Basic Act with separate guidelines for the financial sector. The “Financial Sector Artificial Intelligence Guidelines” prepared by the Financial Services Commission last June include content on how financial companies can utilize AI for security purposes to respond to hacking threats leveraging AI. However, as these are merely guidelines from financial regulators rather than the AI Basic Act or its enforcement decree, they lack binding force over financial companies.
A professional working in financial sector security stated, “The financial industry is becoming a primary target of security threats that exploit AI technology,” adding, “To add security policy to the nation’s overall AI policy, participation of financial sector representatives, such as the Financial Services Commissioner, on the AI Strategy Committee must be actively expanded.”
in FINANCE
