On June 10, 2025, the Korea Smart Healthcare Association (Chairman: Ki-Jun Shim) and SL Foundation (CEO: Sang-Sub Gong) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a strategic partnership aimed at advancing Korea’s medical technology innovation and enhancing global public health. The agreement focuses on jointly developing and building a next-generation medical platform leveraging multimodal technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain.
The Korea Smart Healthcare Association is a key institution leading the digital healthcare industry across various sectors, including quality education for digital medical devices, policy proposals, and ecosystem development. It contributes to enhancing public health and strengthening national competitiveness. The association includes top-tier medical institutions such as Seoul National University Hospital, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, and Korea University Anam Hospital, as well as innovative companies like Kakao Healthcare among its members. It operates with the approval of major government ministries, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Under this MOU, the two organizations plan to launch advanced collaborative research and commercialization efforts in the digital healthcare sector. This includes the development of a multimodal medical dataset, the creation of an explainable AI (XAI) learning platform, and the establishment of a marketplace for XAI models.
In addition, the partnership encompasses various technological collaborations, such as the development of AI-based medical devices, secure blockchain systems for medical data storage and transmission, and transparent AI training processes. Notably, SL Foundation’s native token will serve as a key medium of exchange within the medical data ecosystem, enabling trusted and efficient data transactions across platforms. This approach is expected to become a cornerstone in the construction of a decentralized medical data infrastructure.
Se-Hwan Lee, Vice-Chairman of the Korea Smart Healthcare Association, stated, “This partnership represents a major step forward in future healthcare by integrating data, AI, and blockchain. It offers a model that balances innovation with public interest.”
Sang-Sub Gong, CEO of SL Foundation, commented, “Through this collaboration, we aim to accelerate real-world applications of XAI and blockchain in the healthcare industry, while leading the emergence of a decentralized healthcare data paradigm.”
Both parties intend to further strengthen their cooperation through academic exchanges, joint research, and talent development, driving innovation in personalized diagnosis and treatment, increasing research transparency, and enhancing Korea’s digital healthcare capabilities.
PR Contact:
Andrew – Operation Leads
SaveTheLife Foundation
