Samsung set to pledge 1,000tr won for nationwide AI-chip push

• Presidential office says it will unveil “three mega-projects” covering semiconductors, AI data centers and robotics, to be detailed jointly by government and industry.
• Top executives from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to join President Lee Jae Myung on Monday to outline investments spanning semiconductors, AI data centers, batteries and displays.

Samsung Group plans to pledge 1,000 trillion won (about $648 billion) in South Korea over the next decade in a sweeping bid to turn the AI-driven chip boom into a nationwide growth engine, according to local media reports.

Top executives from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to join President Lee Jae Myung on Monday to outline investments spanning semiconductors, AI data centers, batteries and displays, with Samsung weighing a potential 300 trillion won commitment to build chip fabs in the country’s southwest, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported.

The presidential office said it will unveil “three mega-projects” covering semiconductors, AI data centres and robotics, to be detailed jointly by government and industry.

The push reflects South Korea’s urgency to convert surging AI-era memory demand into broader economic gains beyond the Seoul metropolitan area, where land, power and water constraints have tightened.

Policy adviser Kim Yong-beom has signaled that projects once slated for the 2040s may need to be pulled forward to the mid-2030s, warning that further clustering around Seoul could inflate property prices and deepen inequality.

Political and practical hurdles loom. Opposition lawmakers have accused the government of steering investments toward the ruling party’s southwestern strongholds ahead of a leadership contest, while some experts question whether regions like the southwest can secure enough skilled workers to support cutting-edge fabs.

“Unless a truly advanced fab is built, the local impact could be limited to construction and real estate,” said Kim Tae-yun, a public administration professor at Hanyang University.

Pivotal beneficiaries

Regional jockeying has intensified since the June 3 local elections, with proposals ranging from a 500 trillion won southwest chip complex to expansions of existing clusters.

Speculation has centered on Gwangju, a key southwestern city with below-average per-capita output, as a possible Samsung site. The debate has unsettled established chipmaking hubs such as Icheon, where SK Hynix operates major plants and local finances are deeply tied to the company. “If a new cluster is created, we fear output here could be cut and the city hollowed out,” said Jo Jun-taek, who leads a local civic group.

President Lee has promoted “five regional hubs and three special self-governing provinces” to counterbalance Seoul, which accounted for 52.8 per cent of South Korea’s gross regional domestic product in 2024.

“Where semiconductor factories are built should be decided by companies, not by the president,” People Power Party spokesperson Park Sung-hoon said.

South Korea dominates high-end memory chip manufacturing crucial to AI data centres, positioning Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as pivotal beneficiaries of the global AI surge. Whether the forthcoming “mega-projects” can translate that advantage into balanced regional development may hinge on easing infrastructure bottlenecks and mobilising a skilled workforce outside the capital region.