South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pledged on Wednesday to double his country's semiconductor production capacity within five years and build artificial intelligence supply chains resilient to external disruptions. Speaking at the Korea Investment Summit in New York — a forum bringing together financial and corporate leaders from both countries — Lee pointed to three large-scale "megaprojects" launched earlier this year to expand chip manufacturing and AI infrastructure, and announced a new "Future Fund" to develop related industrial capacity and talent. The pledges matter because South Korea is home to global chip giants such as Samsung and SK Hynix, and Lee's commitments signal Seoul's intent to position itself as an indispensable partner for the United States amid growing geopolitical competition over semiconductor supply chains.