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South Korea Sets Record 29.6 Trillion-Won Science Ministry Budget as AI Spending Jumps 84%

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT will receive a record 29.6476 trillion-won budget in 2027, up 24.5% from this year’s supplementary budget.
  • AI spending will rise 84% to 9.4211 trillion won, including funding for frontier models, 10,000 next-generation GPUs, high-quality data, and talent.
  • Spending on three mega-projects and seven seed projects will also increase, covering physical AI, data centers, semiconductors, quantum technology, advanced biotechnology, space, and fusion research.

South Korea plans to spend 9.4211 trillion won on artificial intelligence next year, an 84% increase that forms the centerpiece of a record science and technology budget.

The Ministry of Science and ICT’s total 2027 budget will reach 29.6476 trillion won, up 5.8272 trillion won, or 24.5%, from this year’s supplementary budget. The ministry identified three priorities: accelerating the AI transformation, securing advanced technologies, and promoting balanced growth through science and digital capabilities.

Frontier AI models and technologies will receive 5.6 trillion won. That includes 3.85 trillion won to secure 10,000 next-generation Nvidia Vera Rubin-class GPUs, 800 billion won to build a high-quality dataset containing 1 trillion tokens, and 25 billion won for talent. The ministry is also considering how to link this work with its existing independent AI foundation-model project.

A new 250 billion-won program called AI for Everyone will support the public’s use of general-purpose AI chatbots and agents, including through GPU rental costs. Funding under the ministry’s three mega-projects, covering physical AI, AI data centers, and semiconductors, will rise from 298.1 billion won to 795.6 billion won. The ministry plans to build foundation models for physical AI, create data infrastructure for robot training, and support domestic AI data-center technology.

Spending on advanced technology will increase 15.8% to 12.377 trillion won. The money will support seven seed projects in quantum technology, advanced biotechnology, space, and fusion, along with strategic technology development, commercialization, basic research, and improved research conditions at government-funded institutes. The ministry will allocate 853.7 billion won for regional research and technology addressing disasters, illegal drugs, and deepfake crimes. First Vice Minister Koo Hyuk-chae said the projects would drive a leap toward an “irreplaceable South Korea.”

We will drive a leap toward an irreplaceable South Korea that no one can rival through the three mega-projects, AI, and the seven seed projects.

— Koo Hyuk-chaeThe first vice minister described the strategic purpose of the technology budget.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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