---
title: "Korea Should Build a National AI Cybersecurity Agenda Following Local Elections, Says ITIF"
summary: |-
  President Trump’s executive order on AI innovation and cybersecurity gets the central tradeoff right. Following South Korea’s local elections, policymakers should draw the same lesson and avoid turning AI safety into another layer of pre-market regulation.
date: "2026-06-03"
content_type: "Press Releases"
canonical_url: "https://itif.org/publications/2026/06/03/korea-should-build-national-ai-cybersecurity-agenda-following-local-elections-says-itif/"
---

# Korea Should Build a National AI Cybersecurity Agenda Following Local Elections, Says ITIF

SEOUL—Following South Korea’s June 3 [local elections](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-ruling-party-sweeps-most-seats-local-elections-faces-losing-seoul-2026-06-03/) and U.S. President Donald Trump’s new [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/06/promoting-advanced-artificial-intelligence-innovation-and-security/) on AI innovation and cybersecurity, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released the following statement from [Sejin Kim](https://itif.org/person/sejin-kim/), associate director of ITIF’s Center for Korean Innovation and Competitiveness:

> *President Trump’s executive order gets the central tradeoff right: Advanced AI acts as a threat multiplier, making it significantly easier to exploit existing cybersecurity vulnerabilities, but the answer is not to put frontier AI behind a government permission slip. A voluntary, risk-focused framework can *[*help*](https://itif.org/publications/2026/06/02/new-executive-order-takes-constructive-approach-to-ai-cybersecurity-risks-says-center-for-data-innovation/)* the United States strengthen national security while preserving the speed of AI innovation.*

> *Korea should draw the same lesson. As AI models become better at finding software vulnerabilities, the policy response should focus on resilience, information sharing, and trusted deployment across critical infrastructure. Korea’s *[*inclusion*](https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/001/0016115937)* in Anthropic’s Project Glasswing, alongside leading firms such as Samsung and SK, shows that Korea has an opportunity to be part of the allied AI-security ecosystem.*

> *Following the June 3 local elections, Korean policymakers should avoid turning AI safety into another layer of pre-market regulation. Instead, they should build a national AI cybersecurity agenda that connects central agencies, local governments, cloud and telecom providers, chipmakers, and critical-infrastructure operators.*

**Contact:** Sydney Mack, [press@itif.org](mailto:press@itif.org)

---
*Source: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF)*
*URL: https://itif.org/publications/2026/06/03/korea-should-build-national-ai-cybersecurity-agenda-following-local-elections-says-itif/*