South Korea Mobilizes $880 Billion in Corporate Investment for AI and Semiconductor Infrastructure

What happened

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung announced a 10-year $880 billion coordinated public-private investment plan in semiconductors, AI data centers, and robotics on June 29, 2026.

Context and impact

The plan is one of the largest national AI investment strategies in history, directly responding to the US-China chip dominance race. South Korea aims to maintain its leading position in HBM and logic chip manufacturing.

Details

• Total: $880 billion (₩1,350 trillion) over 10 years
• Samsung Group plans $648 billion in domestic investment (chips, AI data centers, batteries, displays)
• Samsung and SK Hynix each building 2 new fabrication plants (4 total)
• $518 billion for new chip fabrication capacity
• Challenge: a single megacluster requires a quarter of Seoul's total power capacity
• Predominantly private capital coordinated by the government