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[AI Briefing] South Korea AI Briefing - Feb 28, 2026
🌅 South Korea AI Briefing
February 28, 2026 (Sat) 6:00 PM
Written by: Kyungjin Kim AI Research
■ Today's Headlines
On February 25, the government held the 2nd plenary session of the National AI Strategy Committee and finalized the 'Korea AI Action Plan.' This action plan, containing 99 implementation tasks and 326 policy recommendations, serves as a concrete blueprint for Korea's leap to become a top-3 AI power. Simultaneously, the 'K-Moonshot Project,' aiming to solve 12 strategic challenges across 8 sectors through AI, is now in full operation.
Part 1: Government Policy and Legal Framework
1. Korea AI Action Plan Finalized
The 2nd plenary session of the National AI Strategy Committee was held at Seoul Square on February 25. Over 50 government and private sector committee members and officials from relevant ministries attended to deliberate and approve 5 agenda items. The core content can be summarized into three policy pillars. First, fostering an AI innovation ecosystem, including expanding private cloud utilization and advancing AI infrastructure. Second, a nationwide AI-based transformation, promoting AI integration across all public and industrial sectors. Third, contributing to the international AI community by strengthening Korea's role in global AI governance. The plan was approved as a statutory plan under Article 6 of the AI Basic Act, consisting of 99 implementation tasks and 326 policy recommendations. It contains a 3-year roadmap from 2026 to 2028. [Sources: MoneyToday 2026.02.26 / AI Times 2026.02.25]
2. AI Government Infrastructure Governance Innovation
Following a presidential directive, the 'AI Government Infrastructure Governance and Innovation Direction' was approved to fundamentally redesign the national information management system. The plan includes closing the National Information Resources Service Daejeon Center by 2030 and accelerating the public sector's transition to private cloud services. This represents a paradigm shift in government IT infrastructure from 'ownership' to 'utilization,' aiming to bring public AI service quality and speed up to private sector standards.
3. AI Basic Act — One Month Review
The 'Basic Act on AI Development and Trust Foundation' has been in effect for over a month since January 22. AI businesses must fulfill five obligations: ensuring transparency, ensuring safety, special responsibilities for high-impact AI, AI impact assessment, and designating a domestic representative. However, actual penalties are not expected to be imposed until 2027 at the earliest. Currently, a grace period is in operation, with fact-finding investigations only conducted in cases of serious incidents involving loss of life or human rights violations. Korea's AI Basic Act adopts a horizontal regulatory framework, applying rules to all AI technologies rather than specific industries. It places more weight on industrial promotion than the EU AI Act while establishing minimum safety measures. [Sources: Pikaboo Labs / Kim & Chang / KISO Journal]
4. K-Moonshot Project Launches
The Ministry of Science and ICT has launched the 'K-Moonshot Project,' an ambitious national initiative to address 12 strategic challenges across 8 sectors using AI technology. The 8 sectors are advanced bio, future energy, physical AI, space, materials, AI science, semiconductors, and quantum. Candidate projects include commercializing brain implants, eco-friendly SMR vessels, core technologies for space data centers, and ultra-high-performance low-power AI accelerators. The most notable feature is the responsibility-based operation system centered on private Program Directors (PDs). Each PD designated per mission has strong authority over existing project coordination and new large-scale R&D planning. The budget is approximately 500 billion won, with over 8,000 GPUs allocated for science AI by combining Supercomputer No. 6 GPUs and government procurement. The goals are to double research productivity by 2030 and solve national challenges in all 8 sectors by 2035. [Sources: MoneyToday 2026.02.25 / Aju Economy 2026.02.24 / ZDNet Korea 2026.02.25]
Part 2: Semiconductors and AI Hardware
1. SK hynix — HBM Market Dominance
SK hynix has secured a 57% market share in HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), far ahead of Samsung Electronics (27%). SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won presented SK hynix's operating profit forecast at $100 billion (approximately 145 trillion won) on February 20, doubling in just two months. In 2026, Samsung and SK hynix have entered a combined 70 trillion won investment war—a decisive move for HBM4 development and the AI super-cycle. Both companies appeared together at NVIDIA GTC, unveiling their 6th and 7th generation HBM and SoCAM2 roadmaps while showcasing key partnerships. Samsung introduced HBM4 performance for Rubin GPUs and HBM4E compatibility, along with AI fab automation cases. SK hynix shared real-world evidence of HBM4 improving LLM performance and power efficiency while undergoing NVIDIA's final testing.
2. Structural Changes in AI Semiconductor Market
In 2026, the semiconductor industry has entered a structural transformation phase, moving from AI infrastructure expansion to surging server DRAM and HBM demand, then to NAND high-layering and expanding leverage in materials/parts/equipment performance. Annual DRAM supply shortage is expected to persist at 5-6%, with server DRAM demand projected to grow over 40% year-on-year. The HBM4 market size reaches 147 trillion won, with Samsung and SK hynix expected to capture 90% of this market. AI semiconductor startup BOSS Semiconductor's Series A funding of 87 billion won is also noteworthy. The company targets the autonomous driving market with its automotive AI accelerator 'Eagle-N' and ADAS semiconductor 'Eagle-A.' [Sources: Global Economic / SPTA Times Korea / Startup Recipe]
Part 3: Big Tech and Platforms
1. Naver — Integrated AI Experience Through Agent N
Naver is connecting individual services like search, shopping, maps, and reservations into a unified AI experience through its integrated AI system 'Agent N.' In Q1, the 'Shopping AI Agent' was applied to Naver Plus Store, and in Q2, an AI agent-based 'AI Tab' for integrated search will be unveiled. On the infrastructure side, Naver Cloud began Phase 2 construction of the Sejong Data Center in February—a preemptive investment in anticipation of growing AI computing demand.
2. Kakao — Kanana Search and Agentic AI
Kakao Group has presented 'people-centered AI' and 'global fandom OS' as the two pillars of growth for 2026. While continuing to test and update AI agent 'Kanana,' the company is unveiling 'Kanana Search' with generative search capabilities. Kakao emphasizes that AI will evolve into agentic AI that understands user intent and context first, then connects the next action. The strategy involves increasing platform dwell time through automation of key services like commerce, payments, and reservations.
3. Telecom Big 3 — AI Showdown at MWC 2026
SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus will fully unveil their AI strategies at MWC 2026 in Barcelona in early March. SK Telecom, under the banner of 'Full Stack AI,' will showcase a vertically integrated strategy spanning AI infrastructure, models, and services. Its proprietary AI model 'A.X K1' has passed the government's first evaluation, and commercial services including AI phone service 'A.X Phone,' voice recording 'A.X Note,' and behavior recognition care service 'CareVia' will be introduced. KT will unveil 'Agentic Fabric,' an AI operating system that automates entire business operations, along with 'Agent Builder,' a tool that enables anyone to easily create AI agents. LG Uplus, in collaboration with OpenAI, will launch 'Agentic AICC,' featuring self-evolving technology that improves performance during conversations and digital human customer service, as well as AI call app 'ixi-O Pro.' [Sources: Seoul Shinmun 2026.02.26 / TechM / Global Economic 2026.02.23]
Part 4: Startups and Investment Trends
1. February Investment Market Overview
During the fourth week of February (Feb 23-27), 27 companies secured funding. The total amount disclosed by 16 companies was 344.99 billion won. In the second week of February, 7 out of 17 companies raised 214.5 billion won. By investment stage, seed-stage funding accounts for the highest share at 47.1%. Including grants (5.9%), more than half of investments are in early stages. Funding is concentrated in deep tech, AI, and healthcare sectors. Major investment cases include AI semiconductor design firm BOSS Semiconductor (87 billion won Series A), AI financial platform Affinit (32 billion won Series E), Mobiltech (13 billion won Pre-IPO), and BAT (7.5 billion won Series A).
2. Government Startup Support Budget
The 2026 Ministry of SMEs and Startups AI budget is approximately 799.2 billion won, consisting of 671.8 billion won for non-R&D (17 projects) and 127.4 billion won for R&D (5 projects). The Fund of Funds has also doubled to a record 2 trillion won, and a new 100 trillion won National Growth Fund has been launched. Total startup support budget stands at approximately 3.46 trillion won, the largest in Korean history. Investors are carefully selecting investment targets based on technological defensibility, regulatory responsiveness, and global scalability. [Sources: Startup Recipe / KoreaTechDesk / THE VC]
Part 5: Industry-Specific AI Applications
1. Medical AI
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on February 27 the development of an AI language model capable of interpreting domestic hospital medical records. AI support for vast medical information is expected to enhance efficiency in medical settings. In 2026, medical AI is at a turning point, transitioning beyond single LLMs to multi-agent and domain-specific models. AI systems with modular architecture, domain specialization, and embedded governance are permeating hospital settings. Rehabilitation robot company Medisb joined the writing team for the Korean Orthopedic Association's 'Orthopedics 9th Edition' textbook, taking charge of the 'Physical AI-based Treatment' section. An era where AI-based medicine is included in textbooks has arrived.
2. AI Education
The Ministry of Education announced two major initiatives. On February 20, plans for intensive AI and digital courses for working professionals, and on February 24, the '2026 University AI Basic Curriculum Development Support Project' operational plan. The system ensures that any adult can access AI and digital education anytime, anywhere.
3. AI Content
The Korea Creative Content Agency will invest 19.8 billion won in AI content production in 2026. The policy aims to cultivate an AI-based content creation ecosystem in earnest, with the government declaring its intention to create a 'Global AI K-Content Hub.'
4. Robotics and Physical AI
The Saemangeum Development Agency announced on February 27 plans to develop the Saemangeum area into a robot, AI, and hydrogen industrial ecosystem. The plan encompasses industrial robots, service robots, and medical robots. Physical AI—AI emerging into the real world through robotic bodies—has established itself as one of the key trends of 2026. With Physical AI included in the K-Moonshot's 8 sectors, government-level R&D is now in full swing.
Part 6: Top 5 Keywords for 2026
These are the key keywords for this year as projected by SK Telecom and the National Information Society Agency (NIA). (1) Agentic AI — AI that judges and acts autonomously. Naver, Kakao, and all three telecom companies are putting agent-based services at the forefront. (2) Physical AI — The domain where AI meets the physical world through humanoid robots and autonomous driving. It is also a national strategic sector included in the K-Moonshot. (3) Sovereign AI — Securing AI technology sovereignty has emerged as a national survival issue. Developing proprietary AI models and achieving AI semiconductor self-reliance are core challenges. (4) Multimodal/Reasoning AI — Synthetic data, reasoning AI, and multimodal technology are the key axes of competition. The ability to process images, video, and voice beyond text is the differentiating factor. (5) AI Governance — With the AI Basic Act in effect, the strengthening of safety, risk, and regulatory frameworks is now in full swing. Finding the balance between innovation and safety is a challenge for both industry and government.
Part 7: Implications and Outlook
February 2026 marks a turning point in Korea's AI policy. Over a month has passed since the AI Basic Act took effect, and with the AI Action Plan and K-Moonshot finalized, the government's AI strategy has shifted from 'declaration' to 'implementation.' In semiconductors, SK hynix leads the HBM market while the gap with Samsung Electronics widens. With combined investments of 70 trillion won announced, the battle in the HBM4 generation will intensify in the second half of this year. Platform companies are converging on agentic AI. Naver's Agent N, Kakao's Kanana, and all three telecom companies' MWC exhibits all point toward AI acting on behalf of users. The startup investment market has shifted from quantity to quality. Seed-stage investments account for nearly half, with funding concentrated in deep tech areas like AI semiconductors, physical AI, and healthcare. From a legal policy perspective, the noteworthy point is the AI Basic Act's grace period. With penalties postponed until after 2027, it is crucial for companies to use this period to build compliance systems.
■ Major Sources
MoneyToday (2026.02.26) | AI Times (2026.02.25) | Aju Economy (2026.02.24) | ZDNet Korea (2026.02.25) | Global Economic | Seoul Shinmun (2026.02.26) | Startup Recipe | KoreaTechDesk | Korea Policy Briefing | KISO Journal / Kim & Chang Law Firm
ⓒ 2026 Kyungjin Kim AI Research | kimkj.com
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