○ Forum to be held Dec. 10–11 at KINTEX under the theme “Human-Centered Transformation”
– World-renowned scholars, including Jürgen Schmidhuber and Daniel Susskind, will join discussions with Governor Dong Yeon Kim on AI, climate change, caregiving, and labor
– “In the AI era, restoring human dignity and community must be the highest priority”

An international forum will be held to examine the structural changes and social impacts of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence across the fields of technology, climate, and labor, and to discuss the direction the international community should pursue alongside leading scholars from around the world.

On December 3, Gyeonggi Province announced that it will host the 2025 Gyeonggi International Forum on December 10 and 11 at KINTEX in Goyang City under the theme “Human-Centered Transformation: Designing a Society Where Technology Serves Humanity.”

The Gyeonggi International Forum is the newly rebranded successor to the Gyeonggi Global Transformation Forum, which was launched by the province last year. Modeled in part on the World Economic Forum in Davos, the event brings together world-renowned scholars, representatives of international organizations, and other prominent figures to address global challenges that require new and transformative ways of thinking.

This year’s forum will span two days and include an opening ceremony, keynote addresses, opening discussions, and thematic sessions focusing on Opportunity, Climate, Caregiving, and Labor, followed by a closing ceremony. Approximately 500 participants are expected, including members of the diplomatic corps in Korea, officials from international organizations, representatives from local businesses, subject-matter experts, and university students.

At a time when technological advancement, the climate crisis, and shifts in the global order are mutually reinforcing and accelerating, Gyeonggi Province aims to explore values and policy directions for designing technology in ways that enhance human dignity and the common good. Through the forum, the province seeks to convey the message that technology is a means rather than an end, and that it will respond to these challenges through concrete policy action.

Keynote speakers include Professor Jürgen Schmidhuber of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), widely known as the “father of modern artificial intelligence,” and Professor Daniel Susskind of King’s College London, known for proposing new frameworks for work and economic growth in the AI era.

Professor Schmidhuber, a global pioneer in artificial intelligence and deep learning, is expected to highlight the role of AI in advancing an “AI for All” era—one in which powerful and transparent AI technologies are broadly accessible—and to emphasize AI’s potential to promote inclusion for socially vulnerable populations. Professor Susskind will reexamine the benefits and limitations of economic growth, arguing that achieving prosperity in the AI era requires rethinking the purpose of growth and redirecting it toward outcomes that are genuinely valuable to society.

Governor Kim Dong-yeon of Gyeonggi Province will moderate the opening discussion, which will feature Professors Schmidhuber and Susskind alongside Christine Zhenwei Qiang, Global Director for Digital Development at the World Bank. Together, the panelists will lead discussions from a global perspective on connecting advanced technologies with digital transformation, climate action, and efforts to reduce inequality. The forum’s key messages include the importance of AI grounded in fairness, accountability, and inclusiveness; the need for new economic and social models suited to the AI era; and the promotion of multilateral, cooperative governance among governments, the international community, academia, and industry to foster inclusive AI development.

The Gyeonggi International Forum will host individual sessions on four core agendas—Opportunity, Climate, Caregiving, and Labor—through December 11. These sessions will comprehensively assess the social impacts of structural changes driven by technology, climate challenges, and labor transformation while also presenting potential solutions. Discussion topics will include strategies for addressing inequality in the AI era, rural RE100 initiatives and energy transition, human-centered AI applications in caregiving, and labor issues arising from the platform economy.

Park Keon-kyun, Director General of the International Cooperation Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated, “The 2025 Gyeonggi International Forum will establish itself as an international platform for identifying practical policy alternatives for a human-centered transformation.” He added, “We will translate the proposals and insights presented at the forum into provincial policies and expand cooperation with domestic and international local governments, international organizations, research institutions, and companies, fulfilling our role as a responsible local government leading the era of transformation.”