Analysis Region: 22 cities and counties in Gyeongsangbuk-do
Core Regions: Metropolitan areas such as Pohang, Gumi, and Gyeongsan, and rural/fishing villages and small-school regions such as Uiseong, Yeongyang, Bonghwa, and Ulleung
Agenda: As AI and digital education infrastructure expands, is minimum future intelligence—including questioning, exploration, verification, analysis, AI collaboration, problem-solving, creation, and responsible judgment—guaranteed through public education, regardless of students' residential area, school size, or teacher capabilities?
Golden Time Type: Opportunity + Capability Gap Risk
Reference Date: August 28, 2026
Version: Regional AX Golden Time Intelligence v3.2
Starting in 2026, Gyeongbuk education's transition to AI has entered a phase of expansion from a focus on select pilot schools to a system accessible to all schools and students . The Gyeongbuk Office of Education's Comprehensive Plan for AI Education, announced in March 2026, proposed a structure that operates the "Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center" as an integrated learning platform for all students and teachers, along with 85 AI-focused schools, 150 AI and digital utilization pilot schools , 5 SW-AI education "Chaeum Classrooms," 92 schools supported by AI digital educational materials, and 5 Digital and SW-AI Education Districts. ( Newsis )
The expansion of SW-AI learning time is being institutionalized within the regular curriculum. The Gyeongbuk Office of Education operates programs to ensure that elementary and middle schools secure at least 34 hours of SW-AI education , including regular subjects and creative experiential activities , and plans to promote AI-focused schools and SW-AI education "Chaeum Classrooms" as separate initiatives starting in 2026. The Student SW-AI Talent Development Project supports approximately 50 teams annually, while student camps, hackathons, and teacher research groups are also operated by city and county. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
The cumulative foundation of teacher competencies has also expanded. As of December 2025, the number of current students and graduates in the AI convergence education instruction expert training program reached 232 , and the SW-AI teacher research groups expanded to 55 teams . The G-AID resource booklet, developed in March 2026 with the participation of 46 teachers from Gyeongbuk, Daegu, and Gangwon, includes 42 types of AI convergence instruction and assessment materials categorized by subject, inter-subject, region-specific, and grade level. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
Students' access to AI is also expanding from platforms to project-based education. The Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center continuously provides an integrated learning environment and EdTech services, while the Artificial Intelligence Education Center is preparing project-based education for the second half of 2026, ranging from data exploration and no-coding projects for 5th and 6th graders, machine learning and deep learning data analysis for middle school students, and AI model design for high school students. ( Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center )
However, the weakest point of current public evidence is the student's actual future intelligence outcome .
The number of AI-focused schools, platform users, teacher training, establishment of educational centers, and camp operations demonstrate supply-side readiness.
On the other hand, common outcome data comparing whether students can verify AI answers, check sources, interpret data, collaborate with AI to solve new problems, judge errors, biases, and copyright issues in generated results, and turn local problems into projects at the level of 22 cities, counties, schools, and students is not publicly available.
The current structure is determined as follows.
- Expanded access to AI ≠ Securing future intelligence
- Designation as an AI-focused school ≠ Improvement of student capabilities
- Teacher training ≠ Classroom innovation
- AI utilization ≠ Critical verification
- Establishing an educational center ≠ Bridging the regional gap
The Golden Time for Gyeongbuk education lies in whether, during the period from 2026 to 2028 when AI is introduced into every classroom, the ability to verify, control, and utilize AI to solve problems—rather than the ability to rely on AI—can be defined as the minimum public education competency .
Education in Gyeongbuk has a structure characterized by a vast geographical area and significant variations in school scale and regional accessibility. While urban areas such as Pohang, Gumi, and Gyeongsan have relatively high accessibility to universities, industries, AI educational institutions, and private educational resources, rural and fishing villages like Uiseong, Yeongyang, Bonghwa, and Ulleung are likely to face limitations in school scale, teacher placement, and access to external experts.
This spatial gap transforms into a different form in the AI era. While digital platforms reduce physical distance, merely providing students with the same devices and accounts does not equate the quality of instruction or teachers' AI utilization capabilities.
The structure in which the Gyeongbuk Office of Education operates five Digital/SW-AI Education Districts, city/county camps, and AI Education Centers simultaneously with AI-focused and leading schools demonstrates that the unit of the educational gap has shifted from the simple provision of devices to the capabilities of schools, teachers, and the local educational ecosystem . ( Newsis )
By 2026, Gyeongbuk will operate 85 AI-focused schools and 150 AI and digital utilization leading schools. Separately, it will also implement SW-AI Chaeum Classrooms in 5 schools and support for AI digital educational materials in 92 schools. This demonstrates that the foundation for AI education is not limited to a few leading schools but is expanding to the entire school district. ( Newsis )
However, the number of designated schools does not directly measure students' future intelligence. Even among schools of the same priority, actual learning outcomes may differ depending on teacher competence, project depth, student participation time, and evaluation methods.
The Gyeongbuk Office of Education also separately produced a guide for the use of Generative AI in elementary, middle, and high schools by 2026, including an AI safety checklist for pre-class instruction as well as ethics and copyright education. This serves as evidence that the policy recognition that the expanded use of AI can simultaneously increase information errors, copyright infringement, and ethical risks has already been reflected. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
Currently, Readiness Access Expansion is fast, but Capability Equality is still a Data Gap .
The first structural change is the shift in AI education from coding-centered information education to serving as a learning tool for all subjects. The 2026 Comprehensive Plan for AI Education presented a direction to utilize AI as an everyday learning tool in all classrooms, rather than treating it as a specialized skill for certain information subjects. ( Newsis )
The second point is the shift in the curriculum from the utilization of tools to a focus on questioning, inquiry, and verification . In its 2026 educational direction, the Gyeongbuk Office of Education proposed expanding "classrooms overflowing with questions" and presenting a structure where students grow into talents who ask questions and take on challenges. In AI education as well, it formalized a direction where students take the lead in AI by asking questions and exploring on their own, rather than being dragged along by it. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council )
Third, student assessment is shifting towards a structure that must encompass not only knowledge reproduction but also AI collaboration processes. At the 2026 meeting of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council Education Committee, the possibility of utilizing AI as an auxiliary tool for short-answer and essay-type assessments was discussed, but the principle of Human Oversight—where teachers are responsible for final grading—was confirmed. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council )
The fourth point is the expansion of the scope of AI education from schools to the local educational ecosystem . Multiple hubs are being established, including five Digital/SW-AI Education Districts at the Office of Education level, the Uiseong AI Education Center, the Gyeongju Invention AI Education Institute, and the POSTECH-linked Digital Seedling Project. ( Newsis )
Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center is already operating as an integrated learning platform for students and teachers, providing various edutech and self-directed learning content. It is structured to provide the minimum foundation for AI access through a wide-area common platform rather than school-specific systems. ( Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center )
As of 2026, 85 AI-focused schools, 150 AI and digital utilization leading schools, 5 SW-AI education "Chaeum Classrooms," and 92 schools receiving educational material support are in operation; furthermore, projects have diversified by school type, including 20 10th Industry Curriculum Leading Schools, 10 specialized high schools fostering future AI technology talent, and 3 vocational high schools establishing AI vocational education systems. ( Newsis )
On the teaching staff side, specialized courses and research groups for AI convergence education are expanding. By the end of 2025, the number of participants in expert training courses had accumulated to 232, and teacher research groups to 55 teams; furthermore, by 2026, 42 types of AI and digital convergence teaching and assessment materials were distributed to all teachers. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
Separately, Gyeongsangbuk-do has secured 1 billion won in state funding for the 2026 Digital Seedling Project to promote AI and software education for elementary, middle, and high school students in collaboration with specialized institutions such as POSTECH. The policy objectives include mitigating the digital education gap in information-deprived areas. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Government )
The policy portfolio has already expanded from Platform → School → Teacher → Project → Regional Hub. The remaining bottleneck is the Outcome Layer, which measures and calibrates student competencies using the same standards .
The relative strength of Gyeongbuk education lies in the fact that it is expanding AI education not as a single program, but simultaneously across platforms, schools, teachers, and regional hubs. In particular, the structure of simultaneously operating 85 AI-focused schools and 150 pilot schools demonstrates that supply-side readiness is rapidly expanding. ( Newsis )
Furthermore, the simultaneous introduction of a guide to the use of generative AI for elementary, middle, and high schools, an AI safety checklist, and ethics and copyright education can be evaluated as a structure designed to parallel AI utilization with accountability education. ( Newsis )
On the other hand, the measurement framework for future intelligence outcomes is still weak. Currently, publicly available indicators focus on the number of schools, class hours, the number of trained experts, the number of research sessions, and the scale of program operations. No public indicators comparing student questioning, verification, data interpretation, AI collaboration, and problem-solving by city or county have been identified.
Gyeongbuk's current position is fast in the AI Education Infrastructure stage, but is judged to be early in the Future Intelligence Assessment stage .
There are 85 AI-focused schools in 2026 .
There are 150 leading schools utilizing AI and digital technology .
The number of schools eligible for AI digital educational material support is 92 .
The SW-AI education Chaeum Classroom is 5 schools .
There are five Digital, SW-AI Education Districts . ( Newsis )
SW-AI classes in elementary and middle schools will be operated to ensure at least 34 hours of instruction. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
As of the end of 2025, the cumulative number of participating AI convergence education instructors is 232 , and the number of SW-AI teacher research groups is 55. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
For 2026, there are 42 types of region-specialized AI and digital convergence teaching and assessment materials, with 46 teachers participating in their development . ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
The state funding for the Digital Seedling Project is 1 billion won . ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Government )
The June 2026 supplementary budget for the Office of Education includes 51.5 billion won for establishing a digital-based educational environment, including AI educational equipment, digital learning environments, and teacher competencies. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council )
The direction of the numbers is clear.
The supply of AI education is increasing rapidly.
On the other hand, based solely on current numbers, it is not possible to determine whether students in 85 schools actually have higher future intelligence than students in non-leading schools, whether students in rural and fishing villages have the same AI project experience as students in cities, or whether 232 AI expert teachers are changing instruction across the entire school field.
Therefore, future key metrics should shift from Access Count to Capability Distribution.
The biggest gap is between AI Access and Future Intelligence .
Even if a student can use AI, if they cannot formulate good questions or verify answers, it cannot be determined that their learning capacity has improved.
The second point concerns the gap between leading schools and general schools . The key issue is how much the instructional models accumulated from 85 AI-focused schools and 150 leading schools are reused in general schools. Currently, the publicly available evidence lacks comparative data on diffusion rates between schools and student outcomes.
The third point concerns the distribution of teacher competencies . While 232 AI convergence experts and 55 research teams form a strong foundation of leading personnel, their placement by school and region, as well as the extent of their dissemination in classes, are not disclosed. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
The fourth point concerns the relationship between AI utilization and evaluation systems . As education that freely uses AI expands, it becomes crucial to determine how to assess the boundaries between students' independent thinking and the assistance they receive from AI.
The fifth point is the gap between digital access and the spatial divide . Even if platform access becomes the same in rural, fishing, and island areas, accessibility to teachers, mentors, project teams, and industrial institutions may differ from that of cities.
Gyeongbuk Education's Future Intelligence Baseline needs to be composed of at least the following eight areas.
- Questioning
- Search
- Source Verification
- Data Interpretation
- AI Collaboration
- Problem Solving
- Creation
- Responsible Judgment
Rather than reducing each student to a single overall score, subject-specific profiles should be maintained.
Schools should record the depth of actual projects students have carried out over the year, rather than whether they are AI-focused schools.
Teachers must connect the process from AI-assisted lesson design → actual teaching → student output → evaluation → improvement, rather than simply completing training.
A structure is suitable in which Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center serves as a common platform, the AI Education Center, Invention and AI Education Institute, and Digital Seedlings are utilized as advanced project layers, and school classes serve as the basic public layer. ( Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center )
Students are already provided with various educational pathways. Learning routes have been multi-layered, ranging from AI-focused and leading schools, city and county camps, Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center, Digital Seedlings, the Artificial Intelligence Education Center, to the Invention and AI Education Institute. ( Newsis )
The 2026 weekend projects at the AI Education Center are designed to provide level-specific courses, ranging from data exploration and no-coding for elementary students to machine learning and deep learning data analysis for middle school students, and AI model design for high school students. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
However, whether the same minimum future intelligence is guaranteed to students who do not participate in the program is a separate issue.
The biggest data gap currently is the lack of public evidence tracking program participation → future intelligence improvement → career and learning outcomes at the student level.
The educational gap in Gyeongbuk will not disappear solely through the introduction of a platform.
Students in Pohang, Gumi, and Gyeongsan have relatively easy access to universities, companies, research institutes, and private SW-AI programs. On the other hand, island and mountainous regions may experience differences in the frequency and range of choices for in-person specialized education.
The Gyeongbuk Office of Education's establishment of city and county-specific camps, five Digital/SW-AI Education Districts, and the Uiseong AI Education Center is a move aimed at bridging this spatial gap. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
However, with a base facility-centered model alone, the issue of accessibility arises again.
Therefore, the spatial strategy must consist of Central Advanced Hub + Distributed School Projects + Online Common Platform .
The key evaluation criterion is not the number of facilities, but the gap in in-depth project experience per student .
2026 marks the year the Gyeongbuk Office of Education officially designated as the inaugural year for making AI an everyday learning tool in every classroom. 85 AI-focused schools, 150 pilot schools, the Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center, and the Generative AI Guide and Safety Checklist were introduced simultaneously. ( Newsis )
The irreversibility of education stems from learning habits rather than skills.
Over the next two to three years, the learning culture may change depending on whether students use AI before asking questions or to verify and expand after asking questions.
As schools rapidly expand the use of AI, there is a risk that AI-dependent learning habits will become entrenched first if verification, sources, and thought processes are not evaluated.
Conversely, if the Future Intelligence Baseline and common evaluation criteria are established between 2026 and 2028, the expansion of AI usage can proceed simultaneously with the improvement of thinking skills.
12-1. Golden Time Application Case in Basic Local Governments ① — Uiseong-gun
The Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education’s AI Education Center is located in Uiseong, where level-based AI project education for elementary, middle, and high school students will be conducted in the second half of 2026. A phased project structure is confirmed, ranging from elementary data exploration and middle school machine learning and deep learning analysis to high school AI model design. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
The Readiness GAP depends on whether the achievements of the hub facility extend beyond Uiseong students to schools in the adjacent northern region. Uiseong's Golden Time is 2026–2028, when the AI Education Center is transformed from an experiential facility into a Shared AI Laboratory for teacher and student projects in the northern region .
12-2. Golden Time Application Cases in Basic Local Governments ② — Ulleung-gun
Ulleung is a region where geographical conditions themselves constitute a structural constraint on educational opportunities. Securing curriculum choice and accessibility emerges as an independent policy task, as evidenced by the separate operation of high school credit system training tailored for island areas in 2026. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
The Readiness GAP refers to whether access to an AI platform leads to actual course selection, project collaboration, and access to expert mentors. Ulleung's Golden Time is the period for establishing a Distributed Education Model that guarantees "the same high-quality learning experience for students in island areas" by combining the Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center, online joint classes, and external AI projects .
The first loss is a thinking skills gap that is greater than the AI usage gap . Some students utilize AI for verification, analysis, and creation, while others may use it merely as a tool to transcribe answers.
The second is the entrenchment of the gap in teacher competency. During the initial two to three years, there may be a cumulative gap in instructional design capabilities between schools that have accumulated significant experience with AI classes and those that have not.
The third factor is the lack of in-depth experience among students in rural and fishing villages. Even with the same access to basic platforms, a lack of project experience connected with industry, universities, and experts leaves a gap in career paths and advanced competencies.
The fourth factor is the delay in the evaluation system. If evaluation criteria are re-established after the use of AI becomes commonplace, the cost of modifying already formed learning habits and task execution methods increases significantly.
Gyeongbuk can transform regional industries and environments themselves into educational resources for AI projects.
Pohang can use steel and batteries, Gumi semiconductors and robots, Andong bio, Uiseong agriculture and aging, Uljin nuclear power and energy, and Ulleung marine, climate, and ecological issues for student projects.
In this structure, students in rural and fishing villages do not follow the programs of students in large cities, but instead acquire independent learning assets that analyze their local problems using AI .
Performance should be evaluated based on the progression from questioning → verification → problem-solving → local projects → growth in career competencies, rather than AI class time.
Changes to observe | Things to do with AX | Policy decision | Verification indicators |
| Student AI Access | Common AI Learning Layer | Minimum access to all schools | Student Usage Rate |
| AI-focused and leading schools | Class Model Registry | Expansion of the verification model to general schools | Number of reusable schools |
| Teacher AI Competencies | Teacher AI Commons | Joint support for leading teachers | Actual class application rate |
| Student assignment | AI Process Portfolio | Evaluate the thought process rather than the result | Verification and source recording rate |
| Using Generative AI | AI Safety Checklist | Minimum ethical standards | Error and Copyright Judgment |
| rural and fishing village schools | Remote Projects · Mentoring | Intensive support for regional disparities | In-depth experience gap |
| local industry | Local Problem Project | Industry-University Linkage | Project completeness |
| AI Education Center | Shared AI Laboratory | Northern region joint use | Participation rates by region |
| Student evaluation | Future Intelligence Profile | Diagnosis and Correction by Area | Changes in 8 competencies |
| Educational achievements | Runtime Tracking | Business continuation and adjustment | Community-School GAP |
Future Intelligence Runtime
AI Access → Teacher Competency → Class/Project → Question → Exploration → Verification → Data Interpretation → AI Collaboration → Problem Solving/Creation → Responsible Judgment → Career/Regional Competency
Opportunity + Capability Gap Risk
Gyeongbuk's AI education Access Readiness is rising rapidly.
85 AI-focused schools and 150 AI and digital utilization leading schools are in operation, and AI learning centers, digital education districts, Chaeum Classrooms, and Generative AI guides have been established simultaneously. ( Newsis )
Teacher Readiness also accumulated to 232 AI convergence experts and 55 research teams by the end of 2025, and 42 types of region-specific AI convergence instruction and assessment materials were distributed in 2026. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
A foundation for advanced project education is also being established. The Uiseong AI Education Center operates project-based education tailored to the levels of elementary, middle, and high school students, while the Invention AI Education Institute and Digital Seedlings complement external advanced learning. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
However, based on currently available evidence, it is difficult to determine how much students' capabilities in questioning, verification, data interpretation, AI collaboration, and problem-solving have improved by region and school.
Therefore, the risk for Gyeongbuk is the Capability Measurement Gap rather than the lack of AI facilities .
Currently, Golden Time is determined by Opportunity + Capability Gap Risk .
- Distribution of AI-focused schools by 22 cities and counties
- Regional Distribution of AI and Digital Leading Schools
- AI access rate among general school students
- Number of active students at Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center
- Monthly AI learning usage time per student
- Actual SW-AI class hours by school
- Percentage of schools operating for 34 hours or more
- Actual application rate of AI educational materials in classes
- Teacher AI training completion rate
- Actual AI class operation rate by teacher
- Regional Deployment of AI Convergence Experts
- Number of schools reusing results from the Teachers' Research Group
- Student AI Project Participation Rate
- In-depth project experience per student
- Rural-Urban Project Participation Gap
- Ratio of students using the AI Education Center by region
- Changes in students' question generation ability
- Source and fact verification ability
- Data interpretation skills
- AI error and bias detection capability
- Problem-solving ability in collaboration with AI
- AI output copyright and ethical judgment ability
- Changes in basic thinking skills performed without AI assistance
- City/County GAP of Future Intelligence
- Future Intelligence and Career/Vocational Education Linkage Achievements
Data GAP: While the public evidence of Gyeongbuk education is largely established around schools, facilities, programs, teachers, and class time, Future Intelligence Outcome data tracking student questions → verification → analysis → AI collaboration → problem solving → responsible judgment based on the same standards across 22 cities and counties is not available.
Runtime Chain
AI Access → Teacher Capability → Class Quality → Student Questions & Verification → AI Collaboration → Problem Solving & Creation → Future Job Competencies → Widening or Reducing Regional & School Gaps
The expansion of Gyeongbuk education's AI supply base by 2026 is clear. Currently, 85 AI-focused schools, 150 AI and digital utilization leading schools, 92 schools receiving educational material support, 5 SW-AI Chaeum Classrooms, and 5 Digital and SW-AI Education Districts are in operation, and the direction to transform AI into an everyday learning tool in every classroom has been officially formalized. ( Newsis )
Teachers and the infrastructure for instruction have also expanded. By the end of 2025, there were 232 participants in the AI Convergence Expert Training Program and 55 SW-AI Teacher Research Groups; by 2026, 42 types of AI and digital convergence instruction and assessment materials, developed with the participation of 46 teachers, were distributed to the field. ( Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education )
However, current evidence is strong regarding the amount provided but weak regarding how students have changed . There is a lack of data to compare future intelligence outcomes between leading schools and regular schools, urban and rural areas, and schools with AI specialists and those without.
There is only one structural insight. In the AI era, the educational gap shifts from the ownership of devices or platforms to a gap in "how deeply one can think with AI." Even among two students using the same generative AI, a structure may emerge where one student can verify sources and analyze data to solve new problems, while the other simply accepts the answers as they are.
Golden Time Thesis — The golden time for education in Gyeongsangbuk-do is not the time to increase the number of AI-focused schools or provide generative AI to all students. The key is whether, within the next two to three years, we can guarantee a minimum level of future intelligence—inquiry → exploration → verification → data interpretation → AI collaboration → problem-solving → creation → responsible judgment—for all students in Gyeongbuk, regardless of their place of residence, school size, or teacher capabilities, and whether we can connect the Uiseong AI Education Center, Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center, AI-focused schools, and local industries into a single learning network. If we fail to establish these standards now, the Capability Gap between "students who think more deeply using AI" and "students who let AI think for them" could become entrenched more rapidly, even as the digital access gap narrows.
Version | Reference Date/Revision Date | Major changes |
| v1.0 | 2026.08.28 | The future intelligence and AI education gap of students in Gyeongbuk was analyzed for the first time based on Regional AX Golden Time Intelligence v3.2. The 2026 Comprehensive Plan for AI Education included 85 AI-focused schools, 150 AI digital leading schools, 92 schools receiving educational material support, 5 SW-AI Chaeum Classrooms, and 5 Digital SW-AI Education Districts; over 34 hours of SW-AI education in elementary and middle schools; 232 AI convergence experts and 55 teacher research teams by the end of 2025; 42 types of AI convergence class and evaluation materials and 46 teachers participating in 2026; 1 billion won in state funding for Digital Seedlings; 51.5 billion won for establishing a digital-based educational environment; and the Gyeongbuk AI Learning Center, Uiseong Artificial Intelligence Education Center, and Generative AI Utilization Guide. We presented the Future Intelligence Baseline of Questioning → Search → Verification → Data Interpretation → AI Collaboration → Problem Solving → Creation → Responsible Judgment, analyzed Uiseong and Ulleung as application cases, and determined the Golden Time as Opportunity + Capability Gap Risk. |
