SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday the government planned to boost research spending by nearly a fifth to a record 35.3 trillion won ($25.23 billion) in 2026 to help drive the development of artificial intelligence technologies.

In televised remarks, Lee said South Korea had managed to transform into an industrial powerhouse through investing in the years since Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945.

South Korea is “the only country in the world that was liberated from a colony and succeeded in both industrialisation and democratisation, and that was because we invested in the future,” Lee said.

The decision to increase the budget for research spending by almost 20% reversed spending cuts made under the previous administration of now-ousted Yoon Suk Yeol,

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