Banking News – South Korea is set to invest $16 billion USD in artificial intelligence (AI) and the semiconductor sector in 2027. In the budget plan presented to parliament by President Lee Jae-myung, nearly double the amount compared to this year has been proposed for allocation.

The government has proposed allocating 21 trillion 30 billion won for AI development. Of that, 470 billion won will be spent on developing its own AI model. South Korea is moving to increase investment in this sector at a time when demand for memory chips is increasing along with the expansion of AI technology. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are the world’s major memory chip manufacturers.

The total budget for 2027 has been proposed at 821 trillion won, which is 12.8 percent higher than the current year. This is the country’s largest budget proposal.

The government has also proposed increasing the defense budget by 8.2 percent to 73 trillion 30 billion won. President Lee stated that priority will be given to the development of nuclear-powered submarines, KF-21 fighter jets, and military systems based on AI, robots, and drones. Parliamentary approval will be required for budget implementation.