Overview
- President Lee detailed a 728 trillion-won 2026 plan he billed as Korea’s first budget to open the AI era, including 10.1 trillion won for AI, roughly triple this year’s outlay.
- The proposal assigns 2.6 trillion won to deploy AI across industries and public services and 7.5 trillion won for talent and infrastructure, with Lee saying the government will buy 15,000 more GPUs to reach 35,000 and that Nvidia will supply 260,000 to Korea.
- Overall spending would rise 8.1 percent from this year, with a record 110 trillion won in deficit bonds drawing People Power Party criticism that the plan is populist.
- The People Power Party boycotted the address, citing a detention warrant request for its lawmaker Choo Kyung-ho filed by a special counsel a day earlier.
- Lawmakers now face budget deliberations alongside follow-up on Korea–U.S. tariff talks that may require legislation or ratification, even as the Assembly’s recent audit earned an ‘F’ from a watchdog.