South Korea is set to unveil three “mega-projects” to fuel its next growth phase, including a new semiconductor hub in the southwest that local media say could attract investments by Samsung and SK spanning hundreds of billions of dollars over several years.

Investment Drive

The announcement would mark President Lee Jae Myung’s boldest push yet to align South Korea’s AI and chip ambitions with his pledge to narrow regional disparities and revive economies beyond the Seoul metropolitan area.

Lee will preside over the event, framed as a national “great leap” due to be unveiled, with ministries covering industry, science, climate and transport set to outline policy support.

Samsung Electronics and SK are expected to present investment plans, and their chairmen, Jay Y. Lee and Chey Tae-won, are among business leaders tipped to attend by local media.

Representatives of other firms including LG Electronics, HD Hyundai Robotics, Korea Electric Power Corp and Korea Water Resources Corp are also attending, Lee’s office said.

The package will span semiconductors, AI data centres and physical AI including robotics, Lee’s office said, while the president’s social media posts signalled a new chip cluster planned for the underdeveloped southwest, including Gwangju and South Jeolla province.

Local media have reported the planned investments could exceed 1,000 trillion won ($651.41 billion) over coming years.

Industry experts say diversifying chip investment beyond Seoul could ease infrastructure bottlenecks, but warn that building cutting-edge fabs requires vast electricity and water, advanced logistics, deep supplier networks and highly skilled labour – elements that may not scale quickly enough in a new region to meet surging AI demand.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.