South Korea plans to invest at least KRW 34 trillion ($23 billion) to support companies developing advanced technologies in the battery and biotech sectors, as the nation is gripped by growing geopolitical tensions and Chinese competition.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance stated that the new fund will be managed by the state-owned Korea Development Bank to offer low interest rate loans, and acquire stakes in the hi-tech industries. Although the ministry did not specify any timeline for the investment, or any detail of the fundraising.
The announcement came a day following Sam Altman’s, CEO of OpenAI, visit to Seoul where he met executives from chipmakers Samsung Electronics, and internet conglomerate Kakao Corp.
The government also set to launch a national AI committee as soon as possible to drive South Korea up among the global AI leaders, said the ministry, while also adding that the unveiling of China’s DeepSeek has been a shock to the nation’s tech sector.
The ministry also said that the amendments required for relevant law will be discussed in Parliament in March.
In December, South Korea’s government also revealed plans to invest $38 billion in new supply chains for electric vehicles and batteries to combat China’s dominance.
