Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Korea unveils $534 bil. plan to lead global chip race in AI era
President Lee Jae Myung, left, speaks during a briefing on the government's K-semiconductor vision and development strategy in the artificial intelligence era at the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Gov't announces plans for big push into next-gen semiconductors
Korea unveiled an ambitious plan Wednesday to invest 700 trillion won ($534 billion) to bolster its semiconductor sector and gain an edge in the global chip race shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), aiming to shift from a memory-dominated industry to a more balanced, innovation-driven ecosystem spanning the entire semiconductor value chain.
At a policy briefing titled “Vision and Strategy for K-Semiconductors in the AI Era,” held at the presidential office in Yongsan, President Lee Jae Myung and ministers outlined the government’s mid- to long-term blueprint for securing chip supremacy. About 40 people attended, including senior officials from key ministries, executives from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, industry representatives and academics.
To move beyond Korea’s dominance in memory chips, the government said it would accelerate research into next-generation semiconductors, pledging 21.6 billion won for future memory technologies by 2032, 126.8 billion won for AI chips by 2030, 26 billion won for compound semiconductors and 36 billion won for advanced packaging by 2031.
The plan also outlines steps to fortify Korea’s comparatively weak semiconductor ecosystem. Officials aim to deepen cooperation between chip designers and foundries while cultivating fabless companies capable of competing on the global stage.
The president underscored the need for what he called "fair growth," stressing that the benefits of Korea’s semiconductor boom should be shared more broadly across society.
"It’s important to make the pie bigger, but it’s equally important that many people can share in its benefits," he said, "In the long term, this will also greatly help each individual company’s growth."
"The government will systematically prepare an environment for companies to invest more in southern regions rich in renewable energy and help build new industrial ecosystems there," Lee said, calling for a shift toward more inclusive development evolving beyond Seoul’s capital area.
He linked the nation’s approach to "not digging narrowly, but widely and deeply," emphasizing that sustainable growth may take longer but will yield stronger, more balanced results.
The government’s plan centers on expanding a mega semiconductor cluster being developed in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, into a global hub for AI-driven innovation. By 2047, about 700 trillion won would be invested to build 10 new fabrication plants, with state-led expansion of electricity, water and infrastructure to reinforce cluster capabilities.
To accelerate innovation, demand companies and fabless firms will jointly develop and commercialize on-device AI technologies. The government also plans to launch a public fund to support intellectual property collaboration and strategic investments in fabless startups. For defense chips, where imports account for 99 percent of supply, a new self-reliance project will be launched for technological sovereignty.
Trade, Industry and Resources Minister Kim Jung-kwan stressed the urgency of the new approach.
"This is a critical time that will determine our industrial destiny," he said. "We must mobilize all national capabilities to win the global semiconductor race. We will support world-leading memory manufacturing while expanding the fabless ecosystem tenfold through partnerships spanning design, production and demand."