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.

SDF Invitation

BANG Moonshin

We cordially invite you to the SBS D Forum (SDF) 2025.

This year's SDF theme is "Redesigning the Zero Era: Rewriting Innovation."

In a world where there are no definitive answers, where everything is being reset anew, we seek to diagnose the Zero Era and discover unprecedented solutions that have never existed before.

Fei-Fei LI (Stanford Professor, World Labs Co-Founder) selected by Time as one of the "100 Most Influential People in AI" and is known as the "Godmother of AI" will share insights on the evolutionary direction and future vision of AI technology.

Professor Daron ACEMOGLU (MIT Economics), last year's Nobel Prize winner in Economics, will deliver a keynote address on "Zero Era: Korea's Redesigned Solutions,"diagnosing Korea's current situation and presenting solutions for future national strategy.

Seoul National University's Institute for Future Strategy and the East Asia Institute will present solutions for the changing global order and innovation in national strategy.
Research on "Reconstructing Korea's Growth Strategy" from Seoul National University and the University of Michigan Business School will also be presented.

We have specially organized an in-depth session on "Sovereign AI" and will feature innovation leaders from iFlytek and Galbot from China, as well as Hyundai Motor Group Robotics Lab, Twelve Labs, and Rebellions from Korea, sharing their authentic industry insights.

LEE Sedol, former 9-dan professional Go player and the first human to defeat AI in competition, will share his AI experiences and reflections. Kangta from H.O.T. and novelist SUNG Hae na will discuss K-Culture sensibilities in the AI era in their respective dedicated sessions.

We invite you to SDF2025 "Redesigning the Zero Era: Rewriting Innovation"―reimagining this time of transformation and uncertainty.

BANG Moonshin,President & CEO, SBS