South Korea’s government unveils a broad infrastructure plan aimed at supporting its megaproject initiative, focusing on electricity, industrial water, and large-scale development tied to semiconductors and artificial intelligence. The government highlights three flagship areas of investment: an 800 trillion won ($585 billion) semiconductor expansion led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix; a 550 trillion won AI data center buildout backed by SK Group, GS Group and Naver; and a nationwide effort to commercialize “physical AI” through public-private investment.
To enable these projects, the plan calls for accelerating power and water delivery to key sites and restructuring the electricity grid to manage rising demand from semiconductor fabs and AI servers. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment is tasked with ensuring supply for the southwestern semiconductor plants, citing needs of about 6.3 gigawatts of electricity and roughly 650,000 tons of industrial water. The government says the measures are designed to prevent disruptions and keep infrastructure delivery on schedule as large investments move forward.
