From steel to EVs, Korea races to retool factories with AI

South Korea is accelerating an AI-driven overhaul of its manufacturing sector as the government warns the country is losing ground to China — and may face irreversible decline without structural reform. “China has already moved ahead, and Korea is now in a catch-up position,” Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said. “If we fail to transform core manufacturing sectors such as automobiles, shipbuilding and all-solid-state batteries through AI, there is no future.” The warning comes as industry survey