Emphasizing Korea’s First Budget to Usher in the AI Era
AI Budget Set at 10.1 Trillion Won... Tripled from Previous Year
Investment in Talent Development and Infrastructure
"Next Year’s Defense Budget Up by 8.2%... Transitioning to Advanced AI Weapon Systems"
Strengthening Policies for Youth, Children, Seniors, and Welfare... Minimum Monthly Basic Living Benefit of 2 Million Won for a Family of Four
Senior Employment Opportunities Expanded from 1.1 Million to 1.15 Million
Monthly Basic Income of 150,000 Won for Residents in Population-Declining Areas
On the 4th, President Lee Jae-myung stated, "The government’s budget proposal for next year is Korea’s very first budget for opening the era of artificial intelligence (AI)," and announced plans to establish an AI superhighway.
During his policy speech at the National Assembly that day, President Lee shared the achievements of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and called for bipartisan cooperation from the National Assembly regarding the new year’s budget proposal. In particular, President Lee emphasized that, with the aim of making Korea one of the world’s top three AI powerhouses, next year’s budget will be increased to more than three times the current amount, and will be actively invested in establishing regional physical AI hubs and nurturing 11,000 AI professionals. Additionally, he pledged to provide robust protection for vulnerable groups who are increasingly marginalized by the deepening polarization brought about by new technological advancements, and promised to increase the number of labor inspectors by 2,000 to prevent workplace injuries and fatalities.
President Lee Jae-myung is delivering a policy speech on the 2026 budget proposal at the National Assembly on the morning of the 4th.
He also announced plans to expand support throughout the life cycle, such as raising the eligibility age for child allowances from 7 to 8 years old and increasing senior employment opportunities from 1.1 million to 1.15 million. In addition, residents of regions experiencing population decline will receive a monthly "rural basic income" of 150,000 won.
While explaining next year’s budget, which totals 728 trillion won, President Lee said, "We are facing a critical and unprecedented crisis, where we must seek national survival amid the restructuring of the international trade order and the tidal wave of the AI transformation." The government has set the total expenditure for 2026 at 728 trillion won, an 8.1% increase from this year, marking the first main budget of the Lee Jae-myung administration and the largest in history.
President Lee pledged to lay a solid foundation for growth by ushering in the "AI era." He stated, "The transition to an AI society is inevitable, and in the AI era, even a day’s delay can set an entire generation behind." He further emphasized, "Just as President Park Chung-hee built the superhighway for industrialization and President Kim Dae-jung constructed the superhighway for informatization, we must now build the superhighway for the AI era to open up a future of leap and growth."
To this end, the government has allocated 10.1 trillion won for the transformation toward becoming one of the world’s top three AI powerhouses, more than tripling this year’s budget. Of this, 2.6 trillion won will be invested in introducing AI across all industrial, daily life, and public sectors, and 7.5 trillion won will be allocated to nurturing talent and building infrastructure. Specifically, the government plans to invest in: ▲ establishing regional physical AI hubs ▲ promoting large-scale research and development (R&D) demonstrations ▲ nurturing 11,000 AI professionals ▲ securing 35,000 high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) at an early stage. Regarding high-performance GPUs, President Lee assessed that domestic private companies would have no difficulty securing GPUs, as Nvidia has agreed to supply 260,000 GPUs to Korea.
President Lee also stated, "R&D investment for the development of core technologies in advanced strategic industries such as AI, content, and the defense industry has been increased by 19.3% to a record-high 35.3 trillion won." He promised, "Over the next five years, we will create a 150 trillion won National Growth Fund to foster advanced strategic industries, the seeds of future growth, and ensure that all citizens can share in the benefits of growth."
He added, "Next year’s defense budget has been set at approximately 66.3 trillion won, an 8.2% increase from this year." He continued, "We will transform conventional weapon systems into state-of-the-art systems befitting the AI era, swiftly turn our military into an elite and smart force, and accelerate the realization of self-reliant national defense."
President Lee also announced a series of policies on youth, children, seniors, and welfare. The government will provide a minimum of 2 million won per month in basic living benefits for a family of four and will raise the eligibility age for child allowances from 7 to 8 years old. In addition, the government will match youth future savings accounts by up to 12%, and senior employment opportunities will be increased from 1.1 million to 1.15 million.
President Lee stressed, "It is the fundamental duty of the state to protect the socially disadvantaged and vulnerable groups who are the first and most severely affected by the shocks of new technological advancements such as AI." He added, "In the AI era, everyone should be at the center, and every region should play a leading role. We will actively respond to demographic changes through tailored support by age group."
He also presented a plan to provide greater support to regions farther from the Seoul metropolitan area in order to ease concentration in the capital and promote balanced national development. The government plans to allocate the budget to: ▲ issuing 24 trillion won in regional gift certificates ▲ providing a monthly basic income of 150,000 won to residents in population-declining areas ▲ expanding comprehensive subsidies to 10.6 trillion won, three times the current scale ▲ providing management safety vouchers. President Lee emphasized, "We will continue to expand local priority and preferential treatment for local governments when selecting projects for fiscal support."
President Lee concluded, "Just as we have successfully achieved industrialization and informatization, together with our great people, we will open wide the doors to the 'AI era.' I ask for bipartisan cooperation so that this budget bill can pass within the legal deadline and Korea can move forward into a new future."
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