South Korea Launches $1.1 Trillion Mega Projects for Semiconductor and AI Dominance

South Korea has unveiled an ambitious "3 Great Mega Projects" initiative, earmarking approximately 1,558 trillion won (roughly $1.1 trillion USD) for strategic investments in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence sectors across the Honam, Chungcheong, and Yeongnam regions. President Lee Jae-myung declared the initiative aims to propel South Korea into an "irreplaceable" global standing, emphasizing a leap towards a "super-gap" nation.

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This year will mark the start of an era where South Korea is irreplaceable by any other country in the world. The most critical task is to leap forward as a nation with a super-gap.

The Honam region is slated to become a second major semiconductor production hub, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix pledging a combined 800 trillion won to construct four fabrication plants and foster an ecosystem of suppliers and skilled labor. This investment is expected to drive the total investment in the Honam region, including AI data centers, to 896 trillion won. Samsung Electronics' Chairman Lee Jae-yong indicated that Gwangju is being considered as a candidate site, citing the availability of incentives for power, water, and workforce.

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We are planning Gwangju as a candidate site, expecting significant incentive support for power, water, and workforce.

In the Chungcheong region, 392 trillion won will be invested to develop it as a key hub for semiconductor packaging, including new high-bandwidth memory (HBM) fabrication plants in Onyang and Cheonan, and expanded HBM packaging investments in Cheongju. The Yeongnam region will receive approximately 270 trillion won for AI data center construction and the physical AI industry, with government support aimed at helping automotive and home appliance parts companies in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk area transition into robot parts manufacturers. Samsung Group plans to concentrate its AI data center and robot-related investments in Gumi, Gyeongbuk.

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We will challenge ourselves to complete the semiconductor project in the southwestern region within this government's term.

Further bolstering the AI infrastructure, the government is collaborating with SK, GS, and Naver to build AI data centers totaling 8.4 gigawatts (GW), with these companies planning to invest around 550 trillion won. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced plans to add another 10 GW by 2035, pushing total investment to over 1,000 trillion won for an 18.4 GW capacity. Including existing cluster investments, Samsung Electronics and SK Group announced domestic investment plans of 2,655 trillion won and 2,100 trillion won, respectively.

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Samsung Group's AI data centers for internal use and robot-related investments will be concentrated in Gumi, Gyeongbuk.