SOUTH KOREA PERSPECTIVE

Seoul, May 25, 2026. In his encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" (The Magnificence of Humanity), Pope Leo—the first American pontiff in history—issued a solemn call Monday to governments worldwide: slow AI development and establish robust regulatory frameworks. The document, spanning nearly 43,000 words, represents work begun shortly after his election over a year ago.

In this text addressed to 1.4 billion Catholics, the pontiff formulates specific demands: protect workers' rights, safeguard children from digital technologies, ensure AI data ownership does not remain exclusively in private hands, and crucially, temper the unbridled competition among technology sector firms. "What is needed is more active political involvement, capable of slowing down when everything accelerates," Leo declared in the encyclical.

For South Korea, this papal mandate arrives amid intense tension between technological dynamism and social concerns. Seoul ranks among the world's leading capitals in AI and digital transformation: tech giants Samsung, SK Hynix, and Kakao invest heavily in these technologies, while the government has made AI a national strategic pillar. The call for "solid legal frameworks, independent oversight, and informed users" resonates differently here than elsewhere.

The question of workers' rights, emphasized by the pope, touches a sensitive nerve in an economy where automation advances rapidly across industrial and service sectors. South Korean labor unions have repeatedly raised alarms in recent years about job losses tied to AI deployment in factories and logistics platforms. The papal encyclical offers unexpected moral support to these concerns.

Pope Leo also took care to condemn what he calls the theory of "just war" in the context of new technologies—a position consistent with his broader approach. He recently faced criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump after speaking out against war in Iran. This visible independence from major powers lends particular credibility to his voice in countries like South Korea, accustomed to navigating between American and Chinese influence.

The warning against disinformation spread by AI systems—explicitly mentioned in the encyclical—also echoes South Korean preoccupations. In recent years, Seoul has experienced several incidents involving the spread of automatically generated content during elections and political crises. The Korea Times, covering the encyclical in detail, highlights the "fervent" tone of this document, describing the pope's call as the "first manifesto" of a papacy determined to establish itself as a moral voice on the great technological challenges of the century.