Korea and Indonesia share AI-based healthcare models for medically underserved areas

South Korea and Indonesia have held a follow-up video conference to advance implementation of a memorandum of understanding on AI-based primary healthcare, signalling growing bilateral commitment to using artificial intelligence to close healthcare access gaps across geographically dispersed populations.

The meeting, held on 26 May, brought together South Korea’s Minister of Health and Welfare, Jeong Eun Kyeong, and Director General for Advanced Health Technology Policy Kim Hyeon-suk, with Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Pratikno, and Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

The MOU was originally signed on 1 April, during a state visit to South Korea by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, as part of a broader initiative the two countries are calling the Global AI Universal Basic Society (AI-UBS) Solidarity Initiative.

The initiative is framed around the concept of an “AI Universal Basic Society,” in which artificial intelligence is positioned as a tool for advancing basic rights — with healthcare access identified as the lead priority.

During the video conference, the Korean side presented two concrete implementation models. The first is an AI-based teleconsultation system designed for medically underserved areas. The second is an AI-supported chronic disease management model delivered through primary care. Both are scheduled to be piloted in South Korea’s island and mountainous regions in the second half of 2025, as part of a national programme supporting the rapid commercialisation of AI health applications.

Indonesia presented its own preparatory work and vision for AI-based primary care and health workforce development, and called for the two countries to jointly develop a pilot project in the near term.

Both governments cited comparable geographic conditions as a driver of the partnership. South Korea and Indonesia each have significant island and mountainous populations where physical distance from medical facilities creates persistent gaps in access. Teleconsultation and AI-assisted diagnostics are seen as tools capable of addressing those gaps without requiring large-scale infrastructure investment.

The two sides said they plan to sustain cooperation through joint public-private seminars and to expand engagement with university hospitals, technology companies, and academic institutions to refine the proposed models.

Minister Jeong said the shared geography of the two countries made the partnership a natural fit, and expressed the hope that the collaboration would serve as a replicable model for AI-based primary healthcare globally.