South Korea just dropped what might be the largest coordinated tech investment package in any single country’s history. The government unveiled plans to mobilize at least 1,350 trillion won, roughly $880 billion, from the private sector into semiconductor manufacturing and AI data centers over the next decade.
To put that number in perspective, $880 billion is more than the entire GDP of Switzerland. And it’s being directed at two things: making chips and building the facilities that run AI on them.
Who’s writing the checks
The bulk of the commitment comes from Samsung Group, which plans to invest approximately 1,000 trillion won ($648 billion) domestically. That figure covers not just chip fabrication but also AI data centers, next-generation battery technology, and display manufacturing. Samsung alone accounts for roughly 74% of the total investment package.
SK Group, parent company of memory chip powerhouse SK Hynix, fills much of the remaining gap. Both Samsung and SK Hynix plan to build two new chip fabrication sites each in South Korea’s southwest Honam and Gwangju region. That geographic choice is deliberate, aiming to spread economic development beyond the Seoul metropolitan area that has historically captured the lion’s share of tech investment.