At a Korea Times roundtable titled “Beyond U.S.-China AI race: Korea’s strategic edge,” experts said Korea must navigate the U.S.-China AI rivalry with strategic clarity. Participants included Kim Sung-han, former national security adviser and Korea University professor emeritus; Reform Party of Korea Rep. Lee Jun-seok; Lim Jong-in, former presidential cybersecurity adviser and Soongsil University AI committee chair; and Bone AI CEO Lee Do-kyung, with Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin moderating. Kim stressed that Korea should distinguish between consumer AI and technologies used for national security and called for high-level consultations between Cheong Wa Dae and the White House to define the scope of cooperation with China. He said that under the “small yard, high fence” strategy, Korea can cooperate with China outside narrowly defined areas involving critical technologies, but that Seoul realistically needs to consult Washington to ensure such cooperation does not violate U.S. export controls. Lim said that if the world’s frontier AI model development capabilities add up to 100 percent, the U.S. would account for 50, China 40 and the rest of the world would share the remaining 10.