Nov 04, Kathmandu - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has unveiled plans to triple investment in artificial intelligence (AI) next year and increase the defense budget by the most in six years.

He announced the nation would “decisively move towards leading the 'AI ​​era' in his annual budget address to parliament on Tuesday.

President Lee said the goal is to make South Korea one of the world’s top three AI powers, along with the United States and China, with an investment of 1.1 trillion won (about seven billion U.S. dollars).

“We are opening a new chapter in the AI ​​era, for which investment will be expanded unprecedentedly,” he said in his speech. The amount is three times more than this year’s AI-related budget.

The total size of the government budget presented for 2026 is 7,280 trillion won, an increase of 8.1 percent from the current year. Since President Lee's Democratic Party holds a majority in parliament, the budget is likely to be passed.