Kim Yong-beom, after meeting Kim Eo-jun, says, "The investment scale that will make people ask, 'Is this real?' will be announced on the 29th"

[Financial News] Kim Yong-beom, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy at the Blue House, said that the investment plans for semiconductors, AI data centers, and Physical AI to be unveiled on the 29th will likely intensify debate because of their enormous scale. "The first reaction will be, 'Is this real?'" he said. He also noted that "the numbers that come out will seem very unfamiliar."
Appearing on Kim Eo-jun's News Factory on the 26th, Kim said, "There will be an event on the 29th to explain the programs that the government and companies have worked on together so far in the three key areas of semiconductors, AI data centers, and Physical AI, which are tied to advanced AI."
Kim stressed that the investment plan was not a government-inflated figure. "Some may think the government cooked up the numbers using two companies or several companies," he said. "But these are world No. 1 and No. 2 companies. They are not the kind of companies that are being squeezed dry."
"The companies making the announcement will explain why the numbers are so large," he added. "After that, we will go on a regional relay to provide more detailed explanations."
Kim also commented on the recent industrial shift centered on AI semiconductors. "We are in a time we have never experienced before," he said. "The more you look into it, the bigger and longer-lasting it seems."
He said AI demand could grow faster than semiconductor production capacity and power infrastructure expansion. "We will build fabs and expand sites, but AI demand will explode faster than our pace and eventually move into memory," Kim said. "There is a monster called power chasing me, and even if I run hard, I fear it will catch up."
Kim also raised the challenges that would follow such large-scale investment. "If the influx of liquidity pushes up housing prices, the burden on others will grow," he said. "We need to create a recycling program within the tax revenue that comes in through fiscal policy."
west@fnnews.com Sung Seok-woo Reporter