2025 THEME

SDF2025

Redesigning the Zero Era : Rewriting Innovation

AI and Tariffs: The Intensification of Hegemonic Competition

The global market and trade order are being reshaped at an unpredictable pace and in unexpected directions. From the high-tariff wars triggered by the U.S. to the intensifying tech rivalry between the U.S. and China, uncertainty is mounting. The “AI Grand Transformation” has emerged as a critical, make-or-break challenge that will determine the fate of nations. As the rules of the game are rewritten across the board, countries are navigating a complex equation ―balancing between solidarity and survivalism. Korea’s current reality is far from easy. With growth rates nearing zero, we can no longer dismiss this as a temporary slowdown.

Zero Growth Era:
Discovering New Drivers of Innovation from 'Ground Zero'

Governments, businesses, and individuals alike must acknowledge that the traditional formulas for growth no longer work. What’s needed is a system redesignto break out of structural stagnation. In the Zero Era, the answer doesn’t lie in fixing the old. It lies in building new rules and new pathways altogether.

Rewriting Innovation:
Understanding Our Strengths and Influence

Recognizing this, this year’s SBS D Forumputs forward the theme: “Redesigning the Zero Era: Rewriting Innovation.” It asks a pressing question: In a time when growth has stalled, what must we discard, and what must we reimagine? The Zero Era is not a crisis. It is a call to find better ways ―through different approaches than before. Toward a more resilient order, broader solidarity, and more adaptive structures, we aim to go beyond survival, to help each of us reclaim our sense of presence, and together, chart a path toward collective ascent.