The government’s recently announced “Basic AI Healthcare Strategy” is highly progressive. It does not merely aim to develop medical AI as an industry but seeks to establish it as healthcare infrastructure accessible to all citizens. In a previous column, I wrote that this strategy could become a game-changer for Korean healthcare and the medical AI industry, with the remaining task being budget allocation. Now, the budget proposal has been released.
Medical AI is not a policy solely for the health industry. It can be used to triage emergency patients in regional hospitals lacking physicians, assist in image interpretation, and refer or transfer patients to appropriate facilities. While AI cannot solve physician shortages directly, it can expand the capabilities of existing medical staff and improve the efficiency of regional healthcare. Thus, it serves as a practical means to fill gaps in regional, essential, and public healthcare.
The 2027 Ministry of Health and Welfare budget proposal includes an AX package for primary care in vulnerable areas, an emergency AI platform, AI based on personal health records, medical image sharing, and a national health and medical data hub. The direction is correct. However, the scale raises concerns. Allocations amount to 38.7 billion won for AI based on personal health records and medical image sharing, and 34.9 billion won for the data hub and sovereign AI. Meanwhile, the newly created special account aimed at revitalizing regional and essential healthcare totals 1.26 trillion won. Even combined, these two items represent only 6% of the special account. Since this sum covers multiple projects, the actual funds available to bring medical AI into practice will be even less.
Medical AI cannot become an industry through research and development support alone. Hospitals must purchase and use it, accumulating data and verifying its effectiveness during the process. Especially for local medical centers and regional clinics lacking purchasing power, support must cover not only introduction costs but also system integration and maintenance expenses. Without this, the common failure of pilot projects—where implementation occurs but expansion stalls—will repeat. Let us examine overseas cases. Germany established a 4.3 billion euro (approximately 7 trillion won) hospital digital transformation fund through its Hospital Future Act, supporting over 2,000 hospitals. In contrast, what is needed is not short-term projects worth hundreds of billions of won but multi-year investments in the trillions.
South Korea already possesses competitive medical AI companies, hospitals, medical data, and regulatory frameworks. However, technological competitiveness has an expiration date. If we fail to introduce it into practice now and establish evidence, we may miss opportunities to dominate overseas markets.
The government has formulated a strategy and submitted its budget proposal to the National Assembly. Now, the role of the National Assembly becomes crucial. If the government’s proposal is merely the starting point, reviewing it and finalizing the budget falls to the National Assembly. During the budget deliberation process, the National Assembly must actively strengthen allocations for on-site implementation, procurement, and validation of basic AI healthcare to ensure it goes beyond mere declarations. Regardless of political affiliation, both ruling and opposition parties should unite efforts to revitalize regional, essential, and public healthcare while nurturing future industries.
Separate from increasing the main budget, a broader vision is possible. The government has established a 162 trillion won Future Response Fund in this budget proposal and plans to allocate 45 trillion won in the first year to youth, growth drivers, regional areas, and education. Medical AI is a growth driver, and the area needing it most is regional healthcare. There is no reason to overlook AI infrastructure for regional healthcare when supporting 10,000 GPUs and waiving tuition fees at local national universities through this fund. If just 2% of the first-year expenditure—1 trillion won—from this fund were allocated to medical AI, it would be possible to practically implement a regionally connected healthcare system powered by AI, covering emergency transport, primary care, referrals/transfers, and public hospitals in at least one region nationwide, even if not across the entire country. This would demonstrate the future of basic AI healthcare to citizens in tangible form and serve as a cornerstone for expanding it nationwide based on proven results.
Now is the time for the National Assembly. We urge the Standing Committees and the Budget Deliberation Committee to increase budgets for the on-site implementation, operation, and validation of medical AI during preliminary reviews and deliberations, and to include medical AI as a multi-year investment item in the Future Response Fund. This is the golden opportunity for Korean medical AI to transform both industry and healthcare simultaneously. Since the government has already outlined the direction, it is now the National Assembly’s responsibility to allocate an appropriate budget accordingly.
in OPINION
