Seoul, June 28 (IANS) Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are set to announce major investment plans early this week at a meeting presided over by President Lee Jae Myung, the presidential office said on Sunday.

The investments will be unveiled during a briefing scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at Cheong Wa Dae on the government’s three mega projects aimed at balanced regional development, presidential spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung said.

The initiative is jointly pushed by the trade, science, transport and energy ministries, she added, reports Yonhap news agency.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won will attend the event and take part in a discussion session with other participants.

Industry watchers expect the two chipmakers to invest more than 1,000 trillion won (US$650 billion) over the next 10 years, including in the possible development of a chip cluster in the southwestern Honam region.

On Saturday, Lee described the investment as a “historic achievement” and a policy initiative that could potentially change the fate of South Korea.

The opposition People Power Party has accused the move of being “politically motivated,” noting that it comes at a time when the ruling Democratic Party is experiencing an internal power struggle.

In a separate post, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the government will spare no effort to support the businesses’ proposed investments in regional areas.

“Our key task is to overcome the excessive concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area and ignite the growth potential of regional areas,” Koo said in a social media post. “The government respects the decision to invest in regional areas and will spare no effort to support the initiative.”

Koo noted the companies would have had to invest overseas had the government not pledged strong support in offering electricity and water supplies.

The finance minister added the country needs to make efforts to gain a competitive edge in other cutting-edge industries, such as physical AI and AI data centres.

—IANS

na/