The message for investors from the National Economic Advisory Council’s public forum on the AI transformation is that expanding capital investment alone cannot fully explain how growth will flow through the economy. According to Yonhap News Agency’s 2026-10-26 report, the discussion focused on policy designs integrating workforce capabilities, employment and income. However, investors should assess the policy direction separately from its potential impact on listed companies’ earnings.
National Economic Advisory Council Public Forum: Three-Point Briefing
- Jang Ji-yeon presented investment in people as the foundation for the next phase of growth, proposing that AI transformation at small and medium-sized enterprises be linked to first-job opportunities for young people and opportunities for middle-aged and older workers to apply their accumulated skills.
- Yeo Yoo-jin proposed creating a sovereign wealth fund dedicated to expanding the social safety net, financed with a set percentage of the Future Response Fund.
- Hong Kyung-joon proposed introducing a National Activity Benefit system to support occupational skills development and guarantee income during periods of parenting and caregiving.
AI Policy Shifts Its Focus From Equipment to Capabilities
The forum’s policy vision extends AI investment beyond equipment adoption to support both the capabilities people need to move into new roles and their income during the transition. Jang Ji-yeon said, “To address declining new hiring and employment instability caused by AI, investment in people must become the foundation for the next phase of growth.”
The proposal linking AI transformation at small and medium-sized enterprises with workforce policy follows the same logic. It would provide first-job opportunities for young people and opportunities for middle-aged and older workers to apply the skills they have already accumulated. In investment terms, this means broadening the scope of policy monitoring from capital deployment to organizational redesign and workforce utilization. However, no connection to any specific listed company has been confirmed.
Where the 12-Month and 24-Month Benefit Proposals Differ
Under Hong Kyung-joon’s proposal reported by Yonhap News Agency, the National Skills Benefit would be paid for up to 12 months over a person’s lifetime to support career-transition training for employed workers and job changers, as well as training for young people entering the workforce. This duration indicates a policy scope designed to address income during career transitions, rather than merely providing temporary education support.
Hong Kyung-joon’s proposed National Activity Benefit would broaden eligibility beyond vocational training to include parenting and caregiving, guaranteeing income for up to 24 months. Both benefits remain at the proposal stage. Whether they will be implemented, their budget size and payment levels have not been confirmed, so their fiscal or consumption effects cannot be calculated from the proposed durations alone.
How National Tax Service Income Data Could Reshape Employment Insurance
Jang Ji-yeon proposed comprehensively restructuring employment insurance around income, based on National Tax Service income data. Nam Chan-seop also projected that using income reported to the National Tax Service to establish eligibility and contribution histories could help narrow gaps in social insurance coverage and strengthen funding.
The policy transmission mechanism lies in connecting income data, insurance eligibility and contribution histories. If this framework is implemented as a formal system, it would establish a clearer shift toward determining coverage based on reported income rather than employment type. With no detailed implementation plan yet available, it is too early to draw conclusions about who would be covered or who would bear the costs.
What the Sovereign Wealth Fund and Social Wage Proposals Target
Yeo Yoo-jin proposed a sovereign wealth fund dedicated to expanding the social safety net, financed with a set percentage of the Future Response Fund. Choi Young-jun emphasized a strategy to raise the social wage collectively guaranteed through cash benefits, social security and public services. The two approaches converge in seeking to address both the gains and transition costs of AI within the income-support system.
Kim Sung-sik said, “Investment in equipment and people must occur together, creating a virtuous cycle in which investment in human capabilities and the social safety net becomes the foundation for new growth.” Once the specific allocation ratio for the Future Response Fund is determined, investors will be able to assess the actual policy priorities between talent development and the social safety net.
Expectations and Evidence Investors Must Distinguish
- Confirmed direction: AI transformation at small and medium-sized enterprises, talent development, income-based employment insurance and an expanded social safety net were incorporated into a single policy discussion.
- Unconfirmed implementation: No decisions were announced on whether the programs will be implemented, their budget size, fund allocation ratio or implementation schedule.
- Limits of linking the policy to a stock (ticker): The materials did not identify any listed company that would directly benefit or suffer. Arbitrarily attaching related stocks to the proposals could cause investors to mistake policy ideas for corporate earnings impacts.
- Next indicators to monitor: Investors should watch whether the budget, eligible recipients and funding burden become more concrete when the National Economic Advisory Council incorporates the proposals into presidential advice and policy recommendations.
The Next Turning Point for the Policy Proposals
The National Economic Advisory Council plans to incorporate the forum’s proposals into its advice to the president and policy recommendations. If investment in people leads to actual programs and fiscal allocations, the criteria for evaluating AI policy will expand from capital spending to skills development and income support. Conversely, if the proposals remain ideas without decisions on implementation or funding, the stock market will still lack a basis for assessing their company-level profit and loss effects.
Bottom Line
The vision clearly broadens the AI transformation’s growth path to encompass investment in both equipment and people, but the trigger for investment decisions will be policy recommendations specifying budgets, eligible recipients and implementation schedules—not slogans.
This article was automatically summarized and analyzed based on the original news report. View original article (Yonhap News Agency)
