Issue Digital talent development and closing the digital divide in Korea

Summary

To maximise the positive employment effects of technological progress, KEIS calls for stronger new-technology education and worker retraining. It urges long-term digital workforce training and bold investment in advanced and emerging technologies so that Korea can respond early to labour demand created by the digital and low-carbon transitions. The report points out that digital transformation has driven GDP growth and high-value job creation in high-income countries, and that AI adoption will not fully replace labour, as demand for workers with older technologies will persist. It also warns that as innovation accelerates and industry upgrades, digital polarisation is likely to intensify. Promoting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized firms and offering digital literacy education to digitally excluded groups are therefore presented as necessary.