South Korea's Ruling Party Panel Puts 50 Trillion Won Price Tag on Power Grid Buildout

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party estimates the power sector alone will require about 50 trillion won ($34 billion) in state funding, part of an 80 trillion won, 10-year grid investment the party says underpins its three mega projects.

Rep. Jang Chul-min, liaison for the party's Mega Growth Special Committee, delivered the figures on the 13th, after a budget briefing at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. The committee plans to pass a super-wide-area special zone bill and its related budget this year.

The briefing covered budget items tied to six ministries involved in the mega projects and regional growth. The list includes the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; the Ministry of Science and ICT; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment; and the Ministry of National Defense.

What did the committee actually discuss?

Jang said participants "discussed matters that must be handled urgently next year among budget items related to six ministries tied to the mega projects and regional growth," along with areas the party "needs to pursue more properly."

Electricity dominated the agenda. Jang framed grid buildout as a precondition for the party's AI ambitions.

"Basic infrastructure, power, water and the remaining industrial areas are divided up, but for physical AI and AI data centers, the most fundamental requirement is that power infrastructure be built out in advance in many cases," Jang said.

The numbers anchor that argument.

"By our estimate, 80 trillion won will be needed for the power sector over the next 10 years, and we understand that state funding should come to about 50 trillion won," Jang said.

He cautioned that regional interests complicate the timeline.

"Because there are regional views to consider, this is not something that can be settled in a day or two, so it will continue to be discussed in the party committee as the mega projects move forward," Jang said.

In short: the party has a total, a state-share estimate and no settled distribution plan.

Which opposition claims did the panel reject?

The meeting also examined disputed claims about the projects, including criticism from the opposition.

"A representative example is the claim that substations in the Yeongnam region were taken away for the semiconductor project in the southwestern region, and we confirmed that this is not true, along with a question-and-answer session on how the project will proceed going forward," Jang said.

The panel did not discuss specific points of contention in the bill itself. The rebuttal addressed the substation claim; it did not settle the legislation's open questions.

What is the legislative timeline?

Lee Kwang-jae, the committee's senior vice chairman, set the target in his opening remarks: passage of both the bill and the budget within the year.

"Korea needs new innovative economic growth, and the key means of achieving that is creating a new economic engine through mega special zones," Lee said.

"We will make a firm effort to ensure that the mega special zone act, or the super-wide-area special zone bill, passes this year and that the accompanying budget passes this year as well, so that we can advance toward a new innovative economy by turning both wheels of law and budget," Lee said.

The committee's schedule now runs through party deliberations on regional allocation, with the 50 trillion won state share as the working figure.