The South Korean government, joining hands with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, will carry out 1,558 trillion won in new investment across the Honam, Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions. President Lee Jae-myung pledged that "speed is the only path to survival," vowing that "we must secure the core elements of artificial intelligence (AI) faster than any other nation." He expressed gratitude to Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Tae-won Choi, who decided on the massive investment, calling them "national heroes."
All-Out Effort Ordered Amid AI Hegemony War
At the "National Briefing on the Republic of Korea's Great Leap Forward Three Mega Projects" held at the Yeongbingwan of the Blue House on Sunday, President Lee said, "Semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers are the three pillars for a great leap forward." He added, "We must concentrate all the capabilities of the government and the private sector on binding the three pillars into one and building a Korean-style AI ecosystem with a sense of speed."
In particular, he assessed that "the front lines of national great competition are expanding infinitely," describing it as "truly the time of reckoning, when the very landscape of the global economy is being shaken." He also said, "This is an era in which pages turn in the blink of an eye," and that "in the age of AI great voyages, major countries seeking to take the lead on the new continent of AI are engaged in a life-or-death competition."
He went on to stress that "we must quickly complete the production bases currently underway to meet explosively growing semiconductor demand," and that "we must secure overwhelming supply capacity in advance through large-scale new investment in the southwestern region." Amid intensifying AI hegemony competition between the United States and China, he defined AI and semiconductor competitiveness as a matter of national survival and called for an all-out response.
1,558 Trillion Won for Non-Capital Regions; 800 Trillion Won for Honam Chips
The investment amounts by region are 896 trillion won for the Honam region, 392 trillion won for the Chungcheong region, and 270 trillion won for the Yeongnam region. In the Honam region, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will each invest 400 trillion won, totaling 800 trillion won, to build four semiconductor fabs (front-end processing). The strategy is to make Gwangju, where sweeping support for power, water and manpower is expected, the base and grow it into one of the two core clusters leading Korea's semiconductor industry.
The Chungcheong region will be developed as a semiconductor packaging (back-end processing) base with 392 trillion won. Samsung Electronics will build a high-bandwidth memory (HBM) fab in Cheonan and Onyang, where its existing semiconductor plants are located, and SK hynix will expand packaging investment at its Cheongju campus. The Yeongnam region will be created as an innovation base for semiconductor materials, parts and equipment.
President Lee promised sweeping support for the companies' regional investments. He also said, "We will overhaul laws and systems and will not hesitate to make necessary innovations," and announced, "I will place a dedicated officer under the Blue House and oversee this directly."
"A New History for Korea"... Aides Stop Lee From Bowing Deeply to Lee, Choi
President Lee repeatedly stressed that companies and the government must become "one team" to carry out the astronomically scaled "three mega projects." After the corporate chiefs finished their presentations, President Lee took the stage along with Chairman Lee and Chairman Choi and said, "A new history for the Republic of Korea has begun. It is a truly moving moment."
He also said, "I would like to call the two of you national heroes, heroes of the people," and bowed 90 degrees to each to express his gratitude. After the briefing, Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik revealed, "He was so grateful to the businessmen that he said he would make a deep bow, but the aides stopped him."
In the discussion that followed, President Lee also promised bold support. On the supply of power and water, he said, "The Special Semiconductor Act explicitly allows priority support for local areas, so I will definitely take responsibility." Regarding the electricity rate issue, he said, "In line with the principle of local production for local consumption, I will ensure that there are clear advantages in electricity rates as well." In his closing remarks, he said, "I was surprised that the companies set higher targets than I had expected," adding, "I will do my utmost to ensure that these are actually executed and do not end up as empty promises."
