Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate, visited Dongtan in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on the 12th, the first day of the official election campaign, launching a campaign for "K-semiconductors." Dongtan is a semiconductor hub known as a so-called "semi-circle" because it is located near the Samsung Electronics semiconductor factories in Hwaseong and Giheung.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is holding a semiconductor wafer that says 'A leap to become the world’s No. 1 semiconductor powerhouse' at the music fountain central square in Dongtan, Hwaseong City on the afternoon of the 12th, the first day of official campaigning. /Courtesy of News1

On this day at 3 p.m. during a rally at the Dongtan Central Park music fountain square, the candidate presented a performance after writing "Leap toward becoming the world's No. 1 semiconductor powerhouse" on a semiconductor wafer and holding it above his head.

He noted, "Lee Jae-myung is ready to be your excellent tool, a loyal worker," adding, "I will do my utmost to prove how much the world can change for the better through my fingertips."

The candidate's choice of Dongtan as the rally location on the first day of the official election campaign naturally indicates an intention to emphasize innovation in advanced technologies such as semiconductors.

Earlier that morning, the Democratic Party announced 10 key pledges, led by the initiative for "$100 trillion in private investment in the field of artificial intelligence (AI)."

The top policy priority is the "Leap to becoming a top 3 AI powerhouse," which the candidate has consistently emphasized since declaring his candidacy for the presidential election, including goals such as ▲ increasing the proportion of the AI budget to levels above that of advanced countries and generating $100 trillion in private investment ▲ securing more than 50,000 high-performance GPUs and establishing a national AI data aggregation cluster ▲ achieving $50 trillion in K-culture exports.

The candidate's brown bag meeting with IT developers in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at 12 p.m. on the same day is also interpreted in the same context.

At this meeting, the candidate remarked, "Although the AI and IT advanced industries are developing and productivity is greatly improving, there are many concerns about whether all members are sharing the results together," and stated, "The development of the industry itself and technological advancement are very important, but the world should be one where everyone can enjoy the benefits together."

The candidate plans to conclude the day's schedule with a rally related to K-science and technology at 6 p.m. in Daejeon.