AI TRENDS | South Korea Announces Major Projects for Chips, Physical AI, and AI Data Centers

South Korea’s government on Monday announced major project plans focused on semiconductors, physical artificial intelligence, and AI data centers. According to Odaily, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said the country needs to secure AI-related development faster than other nations and must complete chip production construction as soon as possible. Lee said the current factory site is nearing its limits in terms of water resources and other infrastructure. The government said the southwest region will invest between 5 trillion and 20 trillion won under the new projects, while Gwangju and Jeolla may invest 520 trillion won. In its detailed construction plan, the government said it expects to build four chip plants in the southwest, with investment of about 800 trillion won. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are each expected to build two new plants. The government said investment in the chip sector over the next 15 years is expected to reach at least 30 trillion won, including areas such as next-generation memory, edge AI, and defense. It also projected investment of 81 trillion won for a chip packaging cluster in the Chungcheong region. For AI data center construction, the government projected investment of about 550 trillion won. The government said it expects to double DRAM production capacity within five years and projected the global memory market will grow fourfold over the next five years. South Korea also said it is seeking to distribute growth benefits to the public.