Lee Urges Passage of Record 2027 Budget With About $16 Billion Tech Package

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged lawmakers Monday to pass a record 820.9 trillion won 2027 budget, including a roughly $16 billion package combining AI investment with major technology projects. The address was delivered in Seoul Monday, Nov. 2, or Sunday evening, Nov. 1, ET.

The proposal would increase spending 12.8% from the 727.9 trillion won budget for 2026. The Cabinet approved the plan Sept. 1, and Lee urged lawmakers to pass it by Dec. 2.

Lee described the investment as a way to raise South Korea’s growth potential and support future growth engines. “We will invest boldly in AI and future growth engines to raise the growth potential that is the basic strength of our economy,” he said.

The 21.3 trillion won package covers AI and three major technology projects: semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers. The combined total is 97.2% higher than the 10.8 trillion won allocated for 2026, bringing the planned amount close to twice the prior year’s figure. It is not a stand-alone AI allocation: the amount also includes the three named projects. The plan’s separate AI figure uses a narrower budget scope.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) separately proposed 9.4 trillion won for AI in its 2027 budget. That allocation is 84.3% above the 5.1 trillion won in the ministry’s 2026 budget. MSIT says its AI allocation represents 57% of the government’s total AI budget. That share concerns the ministry’s AI figure, rather than the broader 21.3 trillion won package, so the two totals are not interchangeable measures of AI spending.

The plan also creates a 162.3 trillion won Future Response Fund using expected additional tax revenue. It allocates 45.4 trillion won to four areas: youth, growth engines, regions, and education and talent. Another 12.5 trillion won is set aside to reduce new bond issuance.

The proposal’s AI allocations were also covered in an earlier budget review. Lee’s Nov. 2 appeal followed Cabinet approval two months earlier. He urged lawmakers to pass the proposal by Dec. 2.