South Korea proposes 21.3 trillion won for AI and related industries

The proposed 2027 budget totals 820.9 trillion won, a 12.8% increase.[3] Within it, the government plans to invest 21.3 trillion won in AI and three major projects: semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers.[2] That allocation is nearly double the 2026 level.[3] Lee has framed the investment push as a way to strengthen South Korea’s economic growth potential.[1] He also said the spending would produce virtually no net increase in government debt.[3] These figures describe a proposal, not a completed appropriation: the government submitted the budget bill to the National Assembly in September.[1]

The government plans to allocate 4.7 trillion won to frontier AI development projects and says it aims to bring homegrown AI models into the top tier of global performance.[2] The budget also includes an “AI for All” program with public AI agents intended to guide users from finding information about public services through submitting applications.[2] That proposed service scope matters for organisations assessing where AI could interact with residents or service users: the plan describes support across an application journey, rather than only information retrieval. The evidence does not specify the agents’ rollout schedule or the services they will cover.[2]

The plan would establish a special account to strengthen the semiconductor industry’s competitiveness and provide a stable investment base.[2] It sets aside 2 trillion won to expand chip production capacity, including early operation of fabrication plants in the greater Seoul area and construction of a southwestern cluster.[2] Another 2.1 trillion won is planned for power, water and industrial-complex infrastructure.[2] For physical AI, the budget allocates 500 billion won to demonstrations across eight private and public sectors, including manufacturing, smart factories and defense.[2] The government also plans AI solutions that apply experienced manufacturing workers’ tacit knowledge.[2]

The government plans to train 2,000 specialists in chip design and regional semiconductor industries, and expand AI education for students, job seekers and people already working.[3] Research and development spending is set to rise by 4 trillion won to a record 39.5 trillion won.[2] Separately, the government plans 13.8 trillion won for NEXT 10 strategic technology fields.[2] Lee has called for bipartisan support to pass the budget bill, which was submitted to the National Assembly in September.[1] He said the budget is intended to turn national growth into growth shared by the public.[1]