Comparing the Sustainable Role of Higher Education in National Artificial Intelligence Strategies Through the Lens of Policy Documents in China, Japan, and South Korea (2017–2025)

The sustainable role of higher education and its governance logic is increasingly prominent in national artificial intelligence (AI) strategies. Based on core AI-related policy documents issued by China, Japan, and South Korea between 2017 and 2025, the corpus-based analysis conducts a systematic comparison, by means of text coding, from strategic positioning, policy architecture, educational philosophy, and a governance model. All three countries have established AI as a critically sustainable component of national development strategy and explicitly defined its functional role in higher education at the strategic level. However, varied distinct differences are found in the policy implementation approaches and governance structures. China adopts a centralized, state-led approach characterized by a high degree of integration among institutional instruments. Japan reinforces liberal education reform in the context of higher education and extends educational responsibilities across society through a lifelong learning framework. Driven by global technological competition, South Korea advances digital transformation of the education system, while building a trustworthy AI governance system. These divergent policy models reveal the sustainable interplay between national AI strategies and higher education. Overall, our findings indicate that the evolution trajectories of AI strategies affect the stability and adaptive capacity of higher education systems in the long term.