South Korea’s hot new sensation is 3S+1F – a quadrillion-Won AI plan, not a band

AI AND ML Huntrix from K-Pop demon hunters South Korea’s hot new sensation is 3S+1F – a quadrillion-Won AI plan, not a band Seoul plans to spend about $900 billion to become K-semiconductor powerhouse Simon Sharwood Simon Sharwood APAC Editor Published tue 30 Jun 2026 // 06:06 UTC The government of South Korea and local tech giants yesterday announced over ₩ 1 quadrillion of investment related to AI – or about $900 billion – that it says will see the country emerge a “K-Semiconductor powerhouse” and a global leader in robotics and AI. The plan is called “3S+1F”, shorthand for S peedily building fabs in regional hubs called “ S trongholds”, while aiming to S pearhead innovation in new forms of semiconductors that are needed by growing markets – and getting it done with F ull support from government and industry. The nation also plans to grow a robotics industry ASAP, to give itself the chance of rivalling China as the world’s unchallenged centre for clankers. Planned investments to make that happen include building Physical AI models – to do for movement what LLMs do for text. REG AD Underpinning it all will be datacenters with combined capacity of 18.4GW, all to be built by 2035 and made possible by massive investments in clean energy generation and a grid that moves electrons so efficiently it will literally and metaphorically electrify the South Korean economy. REG AD MORE CONTEXT Malaysia ponders regulating management of IP addresses The memory crisis is getting so bad that even retro RAM prices are going to the Moon SK Hynix to boost memory production 3x ... you can wait another 8 years, right? Norks blast 250+ fake job offers to developers over 6 weeks to try and snarf creds and crypto President Lee Jae-myung said the plan will see South Korea build the industrial base needed for AI faster than any other country and spread wealth beyond Seoul. He therefore pitched the plan as both social and economic policy. Local tech giants SK Hynix and Samsung are part of th