President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a government meeting to assess progress on three megaprojects at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps
President Lee Jae Myung on Monday urged the government to make every effort, including through deregulation, to implement as soon as possible its large-scale investment initiative for artificial intelligence (AI)-related facilities.
The president made the renewed call at the second meeting he has presided over to assess the progress since his administration unveiled the "three megaprojects" in late June that outlined plans for large-scale investments in a semiconductor production cluster, physical AI and AI data centers in regional areas.
Under the chip cluster project alone, the two leading chipmakers — Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. — have pledged to invest a combined 800 trillion won ($564.9 billion), marking the single-largest investment plan to date in the southwestern city of Gwangju and the surrounding Honam area.
Lee said all necessary administrative steps should be pursued simultaneously to shorten the time needed to implement the initiative, while stressing that regulations should also be improved to ensure the implementation can be carried out as quickly as possible.
