South Korea has unveiled a public-private investment plan worth roughly $880–900 billion over the next decade, aimed at memory chips, AI data centers, and robotics. Samsung and SK Hynix anchor the spending alongside the government, with President Lee Jae Myung calling the effort a "national survival strategy."
South Korea has put a price tag on its AI ambitions, and it ranks among the largest national tech commitments on record. On June 29, 2026, President Lee Jae Myung unveiled a public-private investment plan worth approximately $880–900 billion, or around 1,350 trillion won, to be deployed over the next decade. He shared the stage with leaders from Samsung and SK Hynix, and he described the effort as a "national survival strategy."
Three flagship bets
The plan rests on three projects: memory chips, AI data centers, and physical AI and robotics. Samsung and SK Hynix are committing approximately $518 billion, or 800 trillion won, to build new memory fabrication plants in the Gwangju region. An additional approximately $52 billion is set aside for a high-bandwidth memory packaging hub.
The second project targets AI data centers. The plan calls for approximately $356 billion, or 550 trillion won, with a target of 8.4 GW of capacity by 2029, backed by SK Group, GS Group and Naver. The longer-range goal is more than 18 GW of AI data center capacity by 2035.
Seoul also wants South Korea to rank among the top 3 global AI robot powers by 2030. It also plans to train 10,000 specialists in physical AI by the same year.
Why Samsung and SK Hynix anchor the plan
The strategy leans on companies that already dominate parts of the memory market. Samsung, led by Jay Y. Lee, and SK, led by Chey Tae-won, are the key corporate figures attached to the plan. The structure is a public-private partnership rather than a pure government spending bill: the state sets the direction and the targets, while corporate balance sheets supply much of the capital.
Power and talent are the bottlenecks to watch
Moving to 8.4 GW by 2029 and beyond 18 GW by 2035 implies a major expansion in electricity supply, and the plan's credibility will partly depend on whether that power can be delivered on schedule. The talent target may prove a quiet constraint too, since fabs, data centers and robots all need skilled workers.
The milestones to track are groundbreaking progress on the Gwangju fabs, the 2029 data center capacity mark, and the 2030 robotics and training goals.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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