Seoul: Ten major manufacturing sectors are expected to make facility investments worth a combined 122 trillion won this year amid the growth of the semiconductor industry and the automotive industry's push to expand electric vehicle (EV) production, the industry ministry said Monday. The figure marks an increase from the initial plans of 119 trillion won announced early this year. The latest figure for planned manufacturing investment was unveiled at an investment strategy meeting hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the ministry said South Korean manufacturing industries' domestic investment plans expanded, despite soaring overseas investment demand sparked by U.S. tariff measures and global supply chain restructuring, thanks to investments by the semiconductor, automotive, and battery industries. The semiconductor industry has been expanding investments in advanced memories, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), in line with growing global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, while the automotive industry's investments are centered on EVs.

In the meeting, manufacturing companies asked the government to swiftly execute EV subsidies, expand policy financing, and cut electricity rates for industrial use to help them continue boosting their domestic investment, according to the ministry. "Although overseas investment, especially in the United States, has become unavoidable following the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, domestic investment still remains important to prevent the hollowing-out of our manufacturing base," Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said.