Samsung, SK Hynix Anchor South Korea’s $576 Bn AI and Chip Strategy to Assert Dominance

South Korea has announced a semiconductor and AI strategy backed by more than $576 billion in planned investments, as President Lee Jae Myung sought to strengthen the country’s position in the global chip race and promote industrial growth beyond the Seoul metropolitan region.

The initiative will be led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together with suppliers will invest 800 trillion won ($518.3 billion) to establish two new semiconductor fabrication plants each in the country’s southwest, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.

The government also expects another 81 trillion won ($52 billion) to be invested in a semiconductor packaging cluster in the Chungcheong region.

Speaking alongside the heads of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, Lee described the strategy as a ‘great leap forward’ built around what he called the ‘triple axis’ of semiconductors, physical AI and data centres.

“We must secure the core elements of AI faster than any other country,” the president said in a televised address.

Lee said the southwest was chosen because of its untapped electricity capacity, while existing semiconductor hubs have little room for further expansion.

“To meet the rapidly increasing demand for semiconductors, we need to quickly complete the production hubs that are currently under construction,” Lee said.

Industry Minister Kim also said South Korea plans to double its DRAM production within five years by accelerating the construction of fabrication plants in the Seoul metropolitan area, targeting completion by the mid-2030s.

The investment comes as demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips continues to rise, driven by AI infrastructure. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together produce about two-thirds of the world's memory chips, while SK Hynix is NVIDIA's largest HBM supplier. 

Counterpoint Research estimates SK Hynix held a 58% share of the global HBM market in the first quarter of 2026, with Samsung accounting for another 21%, giving South Korean companies nearly 80% of the market.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang recently visited South Korea, where he signed an AI partnership with SK Hynix to further expand HBM production, saying global demand continues to outpace supply.

With the $576 billion package, South Korea is positioning itself as a stable chips superpower, buoying Samsung and SK Hynix up the semiconductor supply chain.