GoKawiilSouth Korea unveils record $610bn 2027 budget with $3.5bn for sovereign AI model
President Lee Jae Myung presented South Korea's largest-ever budget to the National Assembly, with total spending rising 12.8% to 820.9 trillion won ($610.14 billion) for 2027. The plan includes 21.3 trillion won for semiconductors, physical AI and data centers, and a separate 4.7 trillion won earmarked for building what Lee called a sovereign AI model with the world's highest performance. The budget also funds training 2,000 semiconductor specialists and raises defense spending 8.2% to 73.3 trillion won.