International Benchmark · Updated 2026-02-17

🇰🇷 South Korea AI Strategy Benchmark

Republic of Korea

Core strategy
K-AI Strategy / AI Basic Act
2019/2025
Investment
₩100 trillion (~$71.5B) public-private fund
Governance
AI Basic Act (passed 2024)
Core strength
Chaebols + semiconductors, dominant investment scale

One-line Read

South Korea is the most ambitious AI player among mid-sized economies — its ₩100 trillion (~US$71.5 billion) public-private fund vastly outstrips peer nations. Chaebols including Samsung, Naver and Kakao are actively developing proprietary large models, and the 2024 passage of the AI Basic Act signalled governance resolve.

Core Strategies

2019

K-AI Strategy

National AI development blueprint

2024

AI Basic Act

Passed by the National Assembly in 2024 and effective 2025; Asia's first full-scope AI law

2024

AI Semiconductor Strategy

Strengthen sovereign AI chip capability

Investment and Resources

Item
Public-Private Joint AI Fund
Amount
₩100 trillion (~US$71.5 billion)
Note
Multi-year public-private partnership fund
Item
NVIDIA Partnership
Amount
US$3 billion
Note
AI infrastructure and R&D collaboration

Governance Model

South Korea passed the AI Basic Act in 2024 (effective 2025) — Asia's first full-scope AI law. The Act uses a risk-tiered approach, sets up an AI Committee, requires impact assessments for high-risk AI, and tries to balance innovation. It is more legally binding than Singapore's voluntary framework.

Strengths vs Singapore

  • • Crushing investment scale — ₩100 trillion is roughly 25x Singapore's government AI spend
  • • Chaebol system enables rapid large-scale AI deployment (Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc.)
  • • Semiconductor manufacturing capability (Samsung, SK hynix)
  • • AI Basic Act provides a stronger legal framework than Singapore's

Weaknesses vs Singapore

  • • Chaebol dominance may crowd out the startup ecosystem
  • • Less internationalised than Singapore; weaker English-language environment
  • • Less effective at attracting international talent and firms than Singapore
  • • Population ageing poses long-term talent challenges

Key Initiatives and Bodies

Key Initiatives

₩100 trillion public-private AI fund AI Basic Act implementation (2025) Proprietary large models from Samsung / Naver / Kakao US$3 billion AI partnership with NVIDIA AI semiconductor sovereignty strategy

Key Bodies

MSIT (Ministry of Science and ICT)
Lead ministry for AI policy
NIPA (National IT Industry Promotion Agency)
AI industry promotion
AI Committee
Cross-ministry coordination body established under the AI Basic Act

Sources

  • • K-AI Strategy (2019)
  • • Full text of the AI Basic Act (2024)
  • • Korea AI Semiconductor Strategy (2024)

Related Reading

Benchmark Overview Singapore National AI Levers Singapore AI Legal Framework

Continue Comparing

🇸🇬 Singapore

Governance-led, international hub

🇭🇰 Hong Kong

Greater Bay Area bridge, 3000 PFLOPS supercomputing

🇹🇼 Taiwan

Semiconductor hegemon (TSMC)

🇦🇪 UAE

Largest capital pool, world's first AI Minister

🇮🇱 Israel

Highest startup density globally, Unit 8200 talent pipeline

🇪🇪 Estonia

World's #1 digital government, 50+ government AI use cases

Data on this page is compiled from official government documents, international organisation reports and public sources, independently curated by Singapore AI Observatory. Data as of February 2026.