SK Telecom and Defense Ministry Sign MOU to Use Sovereign AI Foundation Models

On Thursday, both sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to use SK Telecom’s AI model, developed under the government’s national AI project, for military and defense purposes.

Under the MOU, SK Telecom and South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense agreed to work together to develop and test a defense-specific AI model. This model will be based on SK Telecom’s existing AI system and will also use open defense-related data.

They will also support the use of powerful computer resources like GPUs for building the AI system. According to SK Telecom, this partnership is expected to make administrative work in the defense sector faster and more efficient.

An AI foundation model is a very large AI system trained on huge amounts of data. It can then be adjusted and used for many different tasks and applications.

The government is promoting a national AI foundation model project to achieve “AI sovereignty,” meaning more control over its own AI technology. Four groups led by SK Telecom, LG AI Research, Upstage, and Motif Technologies have passed the first round of evaluation and are now improving their models before the final review in August.

The MOU is part of the national AI foundation model project. It is also the first time a model from this project is being used in the defense sector.

“Through this agreement, we expect to rapidly develop and demonstrate a defense specialized AI model based on the Sovereign AI Foundation Model Project, which could serve as a turning point for taking defense AI transformation to the next level,” said Jeon Joon-boem, Director General of the Defense AI Planning Bureau at MND. “To effectively introduce AI across the defense sector, we will continue to expand cooperation with the private sector, including SKT.”

“This collaboration will serve as a pivotal moment for our proprietary AI technology to be deployed at scale across the defense sector,” said Choi Dong-won, Director General of the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Policy Bureau at MSIT. “We will actively support defense AI transformation by combining the private sector’s outstanding technological capabilities with the government’s GPU infrastructure, and in doing so, create a virtuous cycle that energizes the AI ecosystem in Korea.”

It is deeply meaningful to contribute to strengthening Korea’s national defense competitiveness based on SKT’s integrated capabilities spanning AI technology, data centers, and telecommunications,” said Kim Myung-gook, Head of Industrial AI Office at SKT. “Going forward, we will continue to expand AI adoption across sectors where data sovereignty and security are paramount — including finance, manufacturing, healthcare, and the public sector — to further advance Korea’s AI competitiveness.”

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