South Korea unveils $880 billion plan: a bet on chips, data centers and robots

South Korea has announced a national AI support program worth at least $880 billion. The investment will be spread over ten years and cover three key areas: semiconductors, data centers and robots. President Lee Jae-myung described the program as a matter of the country's survival in the new technology race.

Three priorities for the decade

The government has named three main areas of investment.

The semiconductor track continues the country's long-running strategy: Samsung and SK Hynix already dominate the market for HBM memory, which is essential for training large language models and running AI accelerators.

Data centers are the bottleneck for the entire sector: global demand for computing capacity is growing faster than infrastructure is being built. South Korea intends to create a pool of capacity both for domestic needs and to attract foreign technology companies.

Robotics is the third block, where the country already has an industrial base: Hyundai Robotics and a number of other manufacturers hold notable positions in Asian markets.

Geopolitical pressure

The program arrives amid fierce competition over semiconductors. The US restricts exports of advanced chips and presses its allies to strengthen supply chains outside China. For South Korea this is both a threat and an opportunity: its plants are under pressure from restrictions on equipment supplies, yet the country is becoming an increasingly important partner for Western technology companies.

Meanwhile, Japan, Taiwan and India are increasing subsidies to attract fab production. Without large state injections, South Korean companies risk losing ground to competitors that receive direct government support.

"Speed is the only way to survive,"

President Lee Jae-myung said when announcing the program.

How the scale compares with other countries

For perspective: the US CHIPS Act provides $52 billion in direct subsidies, and the European Chips Act provides €43 billion through 2030. The $880 billion figure apparently includes not only direct government spending but also the private investment it is meant to stimulate, which is standard practice when national technology programs are announced.

• US (CHIPS Act): $52 billion in direct subsidies
• EU (Chips Act): €43 billion through 2030
• Japan: more than $13 billion for TSMC and Rapidus
• India (India Semiconductor Mission): $10 billion
• South Korea (new program): $880 billion over 10 years

What this means

South Korea is betting that the winners of the race for AI infrastructure will be determined within the next five years, and it is not prepared to wait. For the global market, this means one more powerful player with state resources competing for talent, equipment and manufacturing capacity, and a new round of the subsidy race in Asia.