President highlights growth fund as he seeks parliamentary backing for record budget

President Lee Jae Myung highlighted a proposed 162 trillion won growth fund, supported by additional tax revenue from the semiconductor industry, as he sought parliamentary approval for next year's unprecedented 820.9 trillion won budget. Addressing the National Assembly, the president also disclosed 21.3 trillion won for artificial intelligence, as well as funding for three megaprojects and 13.8 trillion won allocated to 10 next-generation strategic technology fields.

In addition to these investments, Lee pledged expanded welfare support, including automatic access to key benefits for eligible recipients and increased livelihood payments. "The new fund will act as a strategic investment platform, fostering recovery in potential growth and serving as an innovative fiscal stabilization mechanism to handle the growing volatility in tax revenues," he stated during his parliamentary address.

When discussing technology investments, President Lee emphasized, "We plan to invest 21.3 trillion won, nearly double this year's allocation, in AI and the three megaprojects - semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers." "We will designate 13.8 trillion won for the next 10 strategic fields," he concluded.