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Intelligence for Better Decision Making

DeepSeek Unveils Advanced AI Models Challenging Industry Leaders
Dec. 4, 2025 | Technology & Innovation

DeepSeek unveiled its latest AI models designed to rival the leading solutions in artificial intelligence.

**DeepSeek released DeepSeek V3.2 and a high-compute variant, V3.2-Spechiale.**
The company claims the base V3.2 rivals OpenAI’s GPT-5 in overall performance, and that V3.2-Spechiale matches Google DeepMind’s Gemini 3 Pro in inference while outperforming GPT-5 on select benchmarks.

**Moreover, V3.2-Spechiale reportedly achieved “gold medal-level” results at the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad and the International Olympiad in Informatics—benchmarks previously met only by private models from OpenAI and Google DeepMind.**
These results demonstrate DeepSeek’s capacity to handle advanced mathematical and algorithmic challenges at the highest levels.

**In terms of pricing, DeepSeek charges $0.28 per million input tokens and $0.42 per million output tokens for V3.2-Spechiale.**
By contrast, Gemini 3 Pro’s API fees reach $4 per million input tokens and $18 per million output tokens. This significant price gap positions DeepSeek as a competitive alternative for high-performance AI inference.

**However, DeepSeek admits V3.2-Spechiale requires more tokens than Gemini 3 Pro to produce equivalent outputs, potentially raising service costs and increasing processing latency.**
This inefficiency in token usage could affect customers’ overall spending and throughput when scaling deployments.

**DeepSeek developed V3.2 and V3.2-Spechiale amid US export controls that restrict high-performance GPU sales to China.**
Despite these constraints, the company used fewer floating-point operations (FLOPs) in training than its US peers, indicating progress in training efficiency and model optimization.
SoftWave 2025 Showcases AI Innovation and Industry Strategies in Seoul
Dec. 4, 2025 | Technology & Innovation

Industry leaders and professionals gathered at SoftWave 2025 in Seoul to explore emerging trends in artificial intelligence and software.

**SoftWave 2025 takes place from December 3rd to 5th at COEX in Samseong-dong as the 10th Korea Software Exhibition and Korea’s largest AI and software–focused business event.**
The Electronic Times SoftWave Committee organizes the exhibition, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, NIPA, KOSA and other industry organizations. Approximately 300 companies—including Douzone Bizon, Hancom and TmaxSoft—occupy around 450 booths. A new AI pavilion features over 80 booths under the theme “Artificial Intelligence, the Core Technology to Lead the Future Software Industry,” showcasing domestic AI technologies and institutions alongside joint pavilions by AI and software promotion agencies.

**Building on this exhibition, the second day hosts SoftWave Summit 2025 under the theme “APEC 2025: Global Innovation and Domestic Strategy – Global Tech Leadership and Domestic AI·SW Innovation Strategy.” Government, industry and academic leaders gather to discuss global technology trends and strategies for domestic competitiveness.**
The program includes export consultations, a C-level meet-up, VIP booth tours and a special conference on “Digital Disaster Recovery System Construction Strategy” scheduled for December 4th in COEX Conference Room 401. Organizers anticipate that these sessions will drive business outcomes through cooperation, consultations and policy alignment.

**Kim Hyung-cheol, director of the Software Policy & Research Institute, called for a strategic shift in forecasting, policy and industrial approaches amid US–China technological competition.**
SPRi’s “Future Digital Technology Outlook” and “DaRT 2026” forecasts project a shift from traditional S-curve technology diffusion to a “shark fin” pattern, with weak-signal technologies rapidly evolving into general-purpose technologies. He identified brain–computer interfaces, distributed AI alignment and quantum sensing as ultra-fast-growth areas poised for significant expansion in healthcare, smart homes and gaming. Generative AI has become a baseline general-purpose technology, spawning development-assist tools, while metaverse-related technologies have waned in novelty.

**Lee Kyung-min of IDC described how CIOs must evolve from IT operators to digital orchestrators overseeing organizational redesign in the AI era.**
He noted that organizations now measure AI value across nine metrics—including growth and employee experience—rather than solely speed or cost. IDC forecasts that by 2027 half of all AI applications will stall at the proof-of-concept stage, and Lee recommended expanding enterprise-wide AI teams. He emphasized composite AI and AI agent orchestration frameworks as core technologies driving broader adoption. As enterprises integrate AI into operations, they prioritize job redesign over elimination, creating roles for data-driven practitioners, exception managers and AI ethics experts to embed governance and oversight functions.

**The Ministry of Science and ICT confirmed ongoing efforts to strengthen software policy and support AI-driven opportunities in manufacturing, finance, healthcare and public services.**
Its initiatives focus on building foundations for software-based value creation and facilitating AI applications across industry sectors.

**Industry stakeholders at the “AI Technology Standardization Seminar” hosted by the Korea Artificial Intelligence Industry Association pressed for practical AI standards tailored to manufacturing floors, large language model services and evolving global regulations.**
Representatives from the Korea Telecommunications Technology Association, the Medical Data Standardization Forum and private firms called for consistent definitions of variable names, data collection cycles, schemas and quality metrics. Jang Ha-young of Sseuromind stressed that factory data standardization is essential for predictive maintenance and energy efficiency. Lee Hye-jin of Tibel proposed a dual-layer verification framework combining general-purpose and domain-specific evaluation metrics via platforms like T-Lens. Mo Se-woong of SelectStar pointed to gaps between expanding regulations—such as the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001—and business implementation, and he recommended layered reliability frameworks that tie international and Korean standards to internal risk and quality management systems, supported by automated certification tools like “AI-Master” and “CAT.”

Monitored Intelligence for South Korea - Dec. 5, 2025


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Erudite Risk takes an all risks approach to intelligence reporting. We categorize key intelligence into one of 40 different risk intelligence categories.

The goal is to provide intelligence that allows decision makers to avoid being blindsided by what they may have missed, while informing them to make better decisions as well.

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Gmarket CEO acknowledges recent cybersecurity case, notes timing of the incident

Joongang Ilbo | English | News | Dec. 5, 2025 | Cyber Attacks and Data Loss

Gmarket CEO James Chang acknowledged a recent cybersecurity incident involving suspected unauthorized use of customer information on the e-commerce platform. The company identified the issue on a Saturday, linking it to identity theft through credential stuffing, where stolen personal data from outside sources was used to access user accounts and make unauthorized purchases of mobile gift certificates. Gmarket conducted an internal review, which found no evidence of external hacking, and took immediate action by blocking related IP addresses and tightening security measures the same day.

The incident coincided with a separate suspected hacking case at another company, prompting Gmarket to proactively report the matter to South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), which launched an emergency on-site inspection. The occurrence happened on the same day that Coupang disclosed a significant data breach affecting 33.7 million user accounts. Gmarket has compensated all affected customers and committed to enhancing cybersecurity awareness and protections to foster a safer environment for personal data management.

Seoul calls for Asean to support its efforts for dialogue with Pyongyang

Joongang Ilbo | English | News | Dec. 5, 2025 | North Korea

South Korea's deputy foreign minister, Chung Eui-hae, called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to support Seoul's efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea. This appeal was made during a luncheon with ambassadors from 11 Asean member states, including Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Chung expressed gratitude for Asean's backing of President Lee Jae Myung's "END" initiative, which stands for exchange, normalization, and denuclearization. The initiative aims to end hostility and promote peace with North Korea and was highlighted by Lee during his United Nations General Assembly address in September 2025.

Additionally, Chung emphasized South Korea's intention to strengthen its comprehensive strategic partnership with Asean by increasing people-to-people exchanges and enhancing cooperation in trade and security.

FM Cho stresses need for N.K. diplomacy alongside S. Korea-U.S. deterrence efforts

Yonhap | English | News | Dec. 5, 2025 | North Korea

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun emphasized the importance of pursuing diplomacy with North Korea alongside the joint deterrence efforts of Seoul and Washington. Speaking via video at a Washington forum on December 3, 2025, Cho referred to a recent South Korea-U.S. joint fact sheet on security and trade agreements, highlighting it as a step toward a future-oriented, comprehensive strategic alliance. The fact sheet outlines deterrence measures, including U.S. support for South Korea’s acquisition of nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed submarines and Seoul's commitment to raising defense spending to 3.5 percent of its GDP.

Cho stressed that deterrence must be accompanied by diplomacy to prevent accidental conflicts, ease tensions, and restore dialogue with North Korea. Both Seoul and Washington remain open to dialogue with Pyongyang, though North Korea's increased dependency on Russia complicates prospects for engagement. The minister underscored the alliance’s “ironclad” nature as central to regional peace and stability, and highlighted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s pragmatic and principled diplomatic stance.

The foreign minister also emphasized the need for trilateral cooperation with Japan as essential to managing regional challenges, citing Russia’s closer ties with North Korea, China’s rising influence, and Japan’s evolving strategic position. Despite recent tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan, Cho committed to advancing cooperation with both countries through trilateral frameworks.

In addition to security cooperation, Cho pointed to the modernization of the South Korea-U.S. alliance through a recent bilateral trade and investment agreement. This agreement aims to enhance industrial cooperation in areas like shipbuilding, energy, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies. Further, U.S. support for South Korea’s peaceful pursuit of uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, along with backing for nuclear-powered submarines, will boost their shared capabilities in next-generation energy, defense, and shipbuilding. Cho framed these initiatives as essential to adapting the alliance to a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape after more than seventy years of partnership.

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