Lee Hae-min, a Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker and IT specialist formerly with Google Korea who led AI legislation in the 22nd National Assembly, has been nominated as the Presidential Office’s AI Future Planning Chief. With more than 15 years of experience at global tech companies and a track record of policy and legislative achievements in parliament, Lee will now serve as the control tower for South Korea’s government AI strategy.
Shortly after the personnel announcement on the 30th, Lee posted on Facebook: “I will now work as public servant Lee Hae-min at the presidential office, not as lawmaker Lee Hae-min,” adding, “I will serve as a control tower for AI industrial innovation and services that citizens can actually feel.”
He emphasized that his policy focus will extend beyond strengthening industrial competitiveness to spreading AI as a service that ordinary citizens can actually use. “I entered politics with the conviction that the fruits of AI and science and technology should be enjoyed by all citizens,” he added.
The AI Future Planning Chief position, announced by the presidential office that day, oversees all AI policy within the presidential office. Since a senior secretary position cannot be held concurrently with a National Assembly seat, Lee will step down from his parliamentary role to move to the presidential office.
15 Years at Google, Leading AI Legislation in Parliament
Born in 1973, Lee graduated from Sogang University’s Department of Computer Science and earned a master’s degree in computer engineering from the same university’s graduate school. After working as a researcher at the Korea Education and Research Information Service, he joined Google Korea in 2007 as its first product manager.
Over more than 15 years at Google Korea and Google’s U.S. headquarters, he was responsible for product planning and launches including Knowledge Graph, Korean-language speech recognition, and mobile search optimization. He also participated in Android’s South Korean launch, and from 2018 served as a senior product manager for search services at Google headquarters.
After leaving Google in 2022, he served as Chief Product Officer (CPO) at OpenSurvey, a South Korean data company, before entering politics in 2024 as the Rebuilding Korea Party’s second recruited talent. He was elected as the party’s No. 3 proportional representation candidate in that year’s general election.
In the National Assembly, Lee focused his legislative activities on AI and science and technology. He consistently emphasized a policy direction that AI industrial competitiveness should not be limited to model development but should encompass infrastructure including data centers and power, as well as software and the broader industrial ecosystem.
His signature achievement was the “Special Act on the Promotion of Artificial Intelligence Data Centers,” which he introduced in January. The bill defines AI data centers as core strategic assets that determine national industrial competitiveness and security, and establishes institutional support grounds for large-scale AI infrastructure construction. The bill was merged with proposals from other lawmakers and passed the National Assembly plenary session in May as the “Special Act on the Promotion of the AI Data Center Industry.” It was promulgated in June and is set to take effect in March next year.
Lee also addressed the social costs of AI adoption. On the 14th, he co-sponsored the “AI Transition Response Basic Society Act” with Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Joo-hee. The bill aims to proactively respond to employment structure changes that may arise from AI and automation technology adoption, and includes provisions allowing the government to impose an “AI transition response levy” on companies where AI adoption significantly impacts worker employment or job displacement. Funds raised through this mechanism would be used for retraining and re-employment of workers affected by the AI transition.
Within his party, Lee served as chair of the Rebuilding Korea Party’s AI Special Committee, leading discussions on AI industry and institutional issues. In April, he hosted a National Assembly forum on “Building an Open AI Ecosystem” to discuss policy directions for enhancing South Korea’s AI ecosystem competitiveness.
Policy Continuity and Political Role
Industry observers point to Lee’s extensive IT field experience and his AI policy and legislative track record in parliament as key strengths. His global product planning experience at Google headquarters is expected to provide practical value in concretizing government-level AI strategy.
Lee also addressed his political role, expressing his intention to help resolve recent conflicts within the democratic camp. “Now should be a time of recovery that moves beyond the divisions within the democratic camp over the past few months,” he said. “I will do my part, however small, as a bridge.”
He also made clear his view of AI as a core means of elevating national competitiveness. “I hold the conviction that AI should raise South Korea’s national power to the next level,” he said, adding, “I will not stop working for the success of the Lee Jae-myung administration.”
When recruited by the Rebuilding Korea Party in 2024, Lee had stated: “I will do my utmost for the advancement of science and technology, including fostering the science and IT technology ecosystem, opening public data, and supporting young scientists.” How his legislative achievements in parliament will connect to policy execution at the presidential office remains a key point of interest.
