South Korea will pour nearly $16 billion on artificial intelligence and semiconductors, South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung said in his annual budget address to parliament.
"We will invest 21.3 trillion won (€14.3 billion, $15.97 billion), nearly twice this year's amount, in AI and the three megaprojects of semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centres," Lee said on Monday.
He added that 4.7 trillion won will be invested to bolster "frontier AI development projects, with the aim of achieving world-leading performance for our own AI model, a national strategic asset."
South Korea unveils record budget proposal for 2027
The Lee administration has unveiled a record budget proposal for next year, featuring a 12.8% increase in government spending to 820.9 trillion won (€551.5 billion, $615.62 billion).
The proposal needs parliamentary approval, and Lee's party, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), currently holds the majority.
South Korea is Asia's fourth-largest economy and home to two of the world's biggest memory chip makers — Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
The AI boom has sent demand for memory chips soaring.
South Korea recorded faster-than-expected economic growth in the third quarter, driven by chip exports and investment.
Exports totaled $930 billion from January to October and are on track to surpass $1 trillion this year, making South Korea the fourth country to achieve the milestone after the United States, China and Germany.