South Korea plans to invest 5 trillion won in excess tax revenue from semiconductors to develop "sovereign AI" and purchase 10,000 GPUs to support a single team.
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The South Korean government is considering extending the sovereign AI core GPU guarantee project, with a budget of up to 4 trillion won next year.
According to Odaily Odaily, the South Korean government is considering extending its support project for GPUs, a core resource for AI. On July 7th, industry sources indicated that the Ministry of Science and ICT is investigating the capacity of major South Korean cloud service providers to build additional GPUs, aiming to extend the "AI Computing Resource Utilization Infrastructure Enhancement Project." The core of this project involves government-funded purchases of GPUs, deployment in cloud service provider data centers, and support for industry-academia-research collaboration. Last year, the South Korean government allocated a budget of 1 trillion won, and this year it allocated 2 trillion won, securing over 20,000 GPUs. The project was originally scheduled to end this year, but with the surge in demand for advanced resources such as NVIDIA's next-generation GPU Vera Rubin, the South Korean government is developing comprehensive countermeasures, including data center efficiency optimization and new space security plans. It is reportedly already applying to the Planning and Budget Office for a "limited additional budget" for GPU security. Industry estimates suggest that, considering this year's GPU security budget and the government's intentions, next year's budget could reach a maximum of approximately 4 trillion won. Industry experts say that compared to the GPU supply itself, "equipment installation space" will be the key to the success or failure of the project, because running thousands of high-performance GPUs simultaneously requires a large power supply and advanced cooling systems, and the equipment installation space held by South Korean companies is nearing saturation. (ETNews Electronics)
Circuit breakers have become commonplace in the South Korean stock market, with high volatility attracting retail investors, turning trading in South Korean stocks into a "squid game."
According to Mars Finance, on July 7th, the Wall Street Journal published an article analyzing the recent high volatility of the South Korean stock market. The article cited data showing that in the past year, the South Korean KOSPI index fluctuated by more than 2% on 77 separate days. During the same period, the S&P 500 index in the US experienced only five such instances. The KOSPI fluctuated by more than 3% on 44 days, while the S&P 500 never exceeded 3%, and the KOSPI fluctuated by more than 5% on 23 days. The report stated that this volatility has become one of the factors attracting many South Korean retail investors who trade purely for the sake of trading. Maxence Visseau, founder of macro and quantitative hedge fund Arkevium Capital, commented, "Volatility is the key attraction for retail investors seeking excitement." The report also noted that foreign capital outflows exceeded $100 billion (approximately 154 trillion won) in the first half of this year, with $30 billion flowing out in June alone. This trend "could ultimately harm local investors."
South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service has once again warned of the risks of excessive leverage in investment.
According to ChainCatcher, Lee Chan-jin, head of the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, reiterated his warning at the third Consumer Risk Response Meeting yesterday that "leveraged investment is spreading throughout the financial industry and could seriously damage the financial health of households." Lee emphasized that when households concentrate their financial assets excessively in a specific asset or use leverage beyond their means, they not only face huge risks of loss but also severely weaken their overall financial health. Furthermore, Lee demanded that financial companies fully explain the structure and risks of leveraged investment throughout the design, manufacturing, and sales of financial products, and strictly manage and prevent sales practices that induce "borrowing money to invest."
South Korea's Ministry of Finance held an emergency meeting, warning of excessive concentration in the semiconductor sector.
According to Odaily Odaily, South Korea's Ministry of Finance announced that Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol held an emergency meeting with the Governor of the Bank of Korea and heads of financial regulatory agencies to address the recent sharp fluctuations in the South Korean stock market. The South Korean government stated that it will closely monitor various risk factors that could exacerbate market uncertainty and prevent further market volatility. Recently, the South Korean stock market has experienced increased volatility due to factors such as profit-taking by foreign investors and institutions, adjustments in expectations for the AI sector, and portfolio rebalancing. The KOSPI index triggered its sixth circuit breaker this year this week. In a statement, the South Korean government said, "The excessive concentration in the semiconductor industry has become a core factor amplifying financial market volatility, and the transmission effect of fluctuations in the chip sector on the overall market is constantly increasing." (Jinshi)
Bank of Korea launches 24-hour won settlement pilot for foreign investors
The Bank of Korea’s new network will let foreign investors settle won transactions during business hours in their home countries.
South Korean beauty and retail stocks led the market gains, and Gate.com continues to expand its investment portfolio in South Korean stocks.
According to ChainCatcher, Gate's market data shows that the South Korean stock market was active today. Manyo Factory, a cosmetics stock, reached $11.60, up 18.43%; Heung Koo Petroleum reached $6.88, up 14.72%; and IT'S HANBUL reached $7.25, up 13.51%, with several popular South Korean stocks leading the market gains. Gate has established a 24/7 trading service system covering the three core markets of US, Hong Kong, and South Korea, supporting over 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, over 1,500 Hong Kong stocks, and over 1,000 South Korean stocks, totaling over 12,500 stocks and ETFs globally. Users can participate in global stock investment through their Gate unified account using USDT, supporting fractional share transactions starting from as low as 0.01 shares, and enjoying stock dividend rights. The platform also supports cross-brokerage transfers for US and Hong Kong stocks, as well as corporate actions such as stock splits and consolidations, further optimizing the stock investment service experience.