Samsung Electronics' Seocho office in southern Seoul (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald) Samsung Group is reportedly drawing up a long-term investment plan worth as much as 1,000 trillion won ($646 billion), as Korea seeks to turn its semiconductor and AI ambitions into a broader regional growth strategy.The plan, according to a local media report Friday, was discussed during a dinner meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong at Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday. It is said to cover semiconductors, artificial intelligence, next-generation batteries and advanced displays, with a major focus on expanding the country’s industrial base beyond the Seoul metropolitan area.If confirmed, the package would be the largest corporate investment plan ever announced by a Korean company. The upper-end figure of 1,000 trillion won would exceed this year’s government budget of 728 trillion won and amount to a sum approaching half of Korea’s annual gross domestic product.At the center of the plan is a two-track approach: moving ahead with the existing semiconductor cluster project in Gyeonggi Province while expanding production facilities and AI-related infrastructure in regions outside the capital area.The direction appears to align with the Lee administration’s balanced development agenda, aimed at strengthening five regional hubs and three special self-governing provinces while easing the concentration of advanced industries, talent and infrastructure in the greater Seoul area.The government has also been pushing to build a southern semiconductor belt as part of its broader industrial strategy. A special law on strengthening the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry is scheduled to take effect in August, with provisions on semiconductor cluster support, faster permitting procedures and regional balance in strategic industrial projects.The Samsung plan reportedly includes expanding into Honam, Chungcheong and Yeongnam, with each region linked to core businesses such as semiconductors, AI, displays and batteries. The media report also said more than 350 trillion won could be directed toward the semiconductor and AI ecosystem alone.More details could emerge Monday, when the presidential office is scheduled to hold a public-private meeting on balanced national development at Cheong Wa Dae. The meeting is expected to cover investment plans, regional allocation and possible government support measures.Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, added to speculation Friday during an appearance on a YouTube program hosted by political commentator Kim Ou-joon, saying the semiconductor-related investment plans to be discussed Monday would involve unusually large figures.“The numbers are so big that there will be a heated debate over whether they are real,” Kim said. “It will be an unfamiliar scene. The companies making the announcements will explain why such large numbers are being discussed.”Kim dismissed suggestions that the government had pressured major companies into making large investment pledges.“Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 players,” he said. “These are not companies that can be squeezed into doing something.”Samsung has not separately confirmed the reported figures or details of the investment package.