{"slug": "south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan", "title": "South Korea unveils $649B chip and AI plan", "summary": "South Korean President Lee Jae Myung announced three public-private mega-projects totaling about 1,000 trillion won ($649 billion) to develop semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI, aiming to create economic centers outside Seoul. Samsung and SK Group executives are expected to present investment plans, while the opposition criticized the proposal.", "body_md": "Industry context: Large, coordinated public-private investment programs materially change the deployment and regional footprint of AI infrastructure and semiconductor capacity, which matters to practitioners tracking chip supply, data-center capacity, and regional talent pools. Per UPI, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is set to unveil three public-private mega-projects reportedly involving about **1,000 trillion won (about $649 billion)** in investment in semiconductors, artificial intelligence data centers and \"physical AI\" (robotics/edge systems) (UPI). UPI reports the initiatives are intended to develop advanced industries outside the Seoul metropolitan area and create new economic centers across the Honam, Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions. UPI says Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won are expected to attend the briefing and present company investment plans. The opposition People Power Party criticised the proposal and said, \"Semiconductors are an ecosystem, not an electoral district,\" according to UPI.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan", "canonical_source": "https://letsdatascience.com/news/south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan-a585f69a", "published_at": "2026-06-28 23:13:57+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-29 00:32:53.838328+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-chips", "ai-policy", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Samsung Electronics", "SK Group", "Lee Jae Myung", "Lee Jae-yong", "Chey Tae-won", "People Power Party"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/south-korea-unveils-649b-chip-and-ai-plan.jsonld"}}