South Korea Unveils Major Plans for Chip and AI Data Center Projects

Odaily Planet Daily News The South Korean government on Monday announced major project plans in chips, physical AI, and AI data centers. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stated the need to ensure the development of AI elements faster than other countries and that chip production construction must be completed as soon as possible. Current factory sites are nearing their limits in terms of water resources and other infrastructure. The southwestern region will see investments of 5 to 20 trillion Korean Won in new projects, with Gwangju and Jeolla possibly receiving investments of 520 trillion Korean Won in related projects.

Regarding detailed planning for factory construction, the South Korean government announced plans to build four chip factories in the southwest, with an investment of approximately 800 trillion Korean Won. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will each build two new factories. Investment in the chip sector over the next 15 years is expected to reach at least 30 trillion Korean Won, covering areas such as next-generation memory, edge AI, and national defense. Investment in the chip packaging cluster in the Chungcheong region is expected to reach 81 trillion Korean Won. Investment in building AI data centers is estimated to be around 550 trillion Korean Won.

The South Korean government expects to double DRAM production capacity within five years and anticipates that the global memory market will grow fourfold over the same period. South Korea also stated it seeks to distribute the benefits of growth to the public. (Jin Shi)