Amidst the AI war led by global big tech, we've got some exciting news from Korea. The telecommunications giant KT has open-sourced 'midm', a Large Language Model (LLM) packed with Korean culture and data! 🚀 The developer community is buzzing. The path is now open for us to freely research and even commercially use an AI that is truly 'fluent' in Korean. This article will break down everything from what KT's midm is, its features, and how to download and use it, from A to Z.
What Exactly is KT's midm? 🤔
'midm' is a homegrown Large Language Model (LLM) developed entirely with KT's own technology, specifically for the Korean language and culture. It goes beyond simple English translation to properly understand Korea's history, laws, financial knowledge, and even the subtle nuances, proverbs, and honorifics that are tricky to grasp. KT states that they secured high-quality, legally sound Korean data on a large scale and trained the model through a rigorous 6-step filtering process. You could say it's an AI with true 'K-spirit'!
"The 'Korean AI' that KT aims for is an AI that goes beyond simply processing the Korean language to deeply learn the Korean spirit (Value), style (Style), and knowledge (Knowledge), in order to best understand and respond to the context and linguistic expressions of domestic users." – From KT AI's official introduction
A Model for Every Need: The midm 2.0 Lineup 🔎
In July 2025, KT unveiled the more powerful 'midm 2.0' and open-sourced two versions for developers. This thoughtful approach by KT allows users to choose the optimal model based on their purpose and environment.
- midm 2.0 Mini (2.3B): A small and lightweight model optimized for on-device AI implementation. It's perfect for performing specific functions like understanding user intent or translation on smartphones or small devices.
- midm 2.0 Base (11.5B): A general-purpose model that strikes a fine balance between performance and efficiency. This model is expected to provide sufficient performance for most AI service development. Remarkably, it is the first domestic proprietary model over 10B parameters to be released for commercial use!
- midm 2.0 Pro (41B): As the name suggests, this is a high-performance model for professionals. It is currently in private preview, but its future release is expected to enable more complex and sophisticated tasks.
Key Takeaway
KT's 'midm' is a domestic LLM specialized in the Korean language and culture. Notably, the Base (11.5B) model has been released as open-source for commercial use, opening new doors for developers in Korea.
Developer's Guide: How to Download midm LLM (Hugging Face)
Now for the most important part. How can you get this powerful AI model onto your computer? The method is surprisingly simple: use 'Hugging Face,' the holy grail for AI developers. Just follow the steps below.
1. Prerequisite: Install Git LFS
Since LLM model files are very large, you first need to install 'Git LFS (Large File Storage),' a Git extension for large files. Enter the following commands in your terminal or command prompt.
# For macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install git-lfs
# Activate LFS after installation (Required!)
git lfs install2. Download the Model from Hugging Face
KT officially provides the models through its Hugging Face collection. Go to the page of the model you want (e.g., Base Instruct model), copy the repository URL, and run the `git clone` command in your terminal.
# Example: Downloading the Midm-2.0-Base-Instruct model
git clone https://huggingface.co/K-intelligence/Midm-2.0-Base-InstructNow you can start developing with KT's 'midm' LLM in your local environment. A great way to start would be to load and test the model with a simple Python script. 😉
Why Should We Pay Attention to 'midm'?
It's not just because it's 'domestically produced.' 'midm' can be an attractive choice for developers in many ways.
- Superior Korean Language Performance: It has demonstrated performance surpassing global SOTA (State-Of-The-Art) models on its proprietary Korean-specific benchmarks. Say goodbye to awkward, machine-translated answers!
- Trust and Safety: KT applied 'Responsible AI' principles from the initial development stage. It effectively controls harmful information and has a robustness against malicious prompt attacks comparable to GPT-4o, allowing you to build services with peace of mind.
- Commercial Use Allowed: Distributed under an MIT license, anyone can freely use it for research and to create commercial products or services. This is a tremendous opportunity for domestic AI startups and developers.
Conclusion: New Horizons for the Korean AI Ecosystem
The release of KT's 'midm' LLM is more than just a model announcement; it's a significant event that breathes new life into the entire Korean AI ecosystem. Now, Korean developers have a powerful tool that best understands the thoughts and language of Koreans. It's exciting to imagine what innovative services will be born from this trustworthy AI. Why not download 'midm' right now and explore the new possibilities?