On June 29, 2026, South Korea's Hankyoreh newspaper reported that 'the 'Three Major Mega-Projects,' with the participation of companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and an investment scale of approximately 1,600 trillion won, will commence.'

On the same day, the South Korean government announced the 'Three Major Mega-Projects,' which center on investing 800 trillion won in the southwestern region, including Gwangju, to build memory semiconductor factories (fabs). There are plans to invest a total of approximately 1,558 trillion won in the three regions of Honam, Chungcheong, and Yeongnam.

At a public briefing held on the afternoon of the 29th at the Blue House (South Korean presidential office), investment plans for three fields—semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and physical AI—were announced. This large-scale investment plan, spanning the Yeongnam, Honam, and Chungcheong regions, symbolizes the Lee Jae-myung administration's '5 Poles and 3 Special Areas' (five super-wide economic zones and three special self-governing provinces) strategy and will be the largest industrial project.

In the semiconductor sector, the policy is to develop Honam as the 'second production base' after the Seoul metropolitan area. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will invest a total of 800 trillion won. Including investments in AI data centers, the total investment in the Honam region is expected to reach 896 trillion won.

The construction of semiconductor factories underway in the industrial complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, will accelerate its completion, with plans to double the production capacity of memory semiconductors within 5 years. In the Chungcheong region, 392 trillion won will be invested with the aim of fostering semiconductor packaging bases and other initiatives.

In the Yeongnam region, approximately 270 trillion won (tentative) will be invested in AI data centers, physical AI industries, and other areas. The government intends to support automobile and home appliance parts manufacturers in the Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do regions in transitioning to robot parts manufacturers.

Furthermore, the government also announced plans to develop AI data centers with a power generation capacity of 8.4 gigawatts (GW) in collaboration with SK Group, GS Group, and NAVER. The three companies plan to invest approximately 550 trillion won.

In response to this article, many negative comments were received from South Korean netizens, such as 'In rural areas where infrastructure isn't even developed?', 'Isn't the semiconductor boom likely to end in another 5 years?', 'Companies would do their job properly even if left alone, but Lee Jae-myung is interfering and trying to take credit/profit,' and 'Why is the Blue House meddling when it should be left to the companies?'. However, comments such as 'I hope they prepare well and become companies that lead the world in regional and national development' were also seen.