Corrected: UPDATE 2-South Korea unveils massive AI and chip investment drive

SK

Yesterday 02:50

Corrects fifth paragraph to note investment amount was between 5 trillion and 20 trillion won (not 520 trillion won
President Lee says projects to secure overwhelming industrial strength
Investments could exceed $650 billion, media say
Expected southwest chip hub plan aims to ease Seoul-area concentration
Leaders of world's two largest memory chip makers join announcement
Critics question infrastructure, skilled labour and political motives behind the plan
By Joyce Lee
SEOUL, June 29 (Reuters) - South Korea rolled out sweeping chip and AI mega-projects on Monday, as President Lee Jae Myung pledged to cement overwhelming industry leadership with investments spanning hundreds of billions of dollars over several years.
The announcement marks Lee'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 was joined by the leaders of Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and SK Hynix 000660.KS, the world's two largest memory chipmakers, for the televised announcement.
"We must secure the core elements of AI faster than any other country," the president said. "Semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centres are the triple axis for a our great leap forward."
The projects are expected to attract investments including by Samsung and SK over the next several years. Lee said the country's southwestern city of Gwangju and South Jeolla province will also invest between 5 trillion and 20 trillion won in the projects.
As part of the overall initiative, the southwest would be the home to new massive chip production clusters, Lee said, in part to utilize the rich power resources yet untapped there.
Local media have reported the planned investments could exceed 1,000 trillion won ($651.41 billion) over coming years.
($1 = 1,544.3800 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee, Heejin Kim, Brenda Goh, Hyunjoo Jin, Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Cynthia Kim and Jihoon Lee 
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))