The South Korean Ministry of Science announced on Friday that SK Group will invest approximately KRW 7 trillion (USD 5.11 billion) to build a large data center in the southern Korean city of Ulsan, including a USD 4 billion investment from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
According to a statement from the Ministry of Science, this AI data center will become the largest data center in South Korea and is scheduled to start construction in September. It is expected to be fully operational by 2029. The initial capacity of the center is 100 megawatts, and it is expected to expand to a larger scale in the future.
At a meeting attended by President Lee Jae myung and technology industry executives, SK Group Chairman Choi Tae won stated that he plans to expand the capacity of the data center to 1 gigawatt in the future, making it a global center for handling domestic artificial intelligence demand in South Korea. Choi Tae won emphasized that artificial intelligence is crucial for South Korea's economic growth. President Lee Jae myung pointed out that this project will set an example and demonstrate that South Korea's high-tech industry can not only develop in metropolitan areas, but also achieve success in various provinces.
Affected by this news, Korean AI related stocks continued to rise on Friday, with SK Hynix up more than 3%, Kakao up 11%, and LG CNS up 9%. These gains have driven the South Korean benchmark stock index KOSPI to break through the key milestone of 3000 points, marking the first breakthrough in three and a half years.
Earlier this month, media reported that SK Group and Amazon Web Services were collaborating to build data centers in South Korea. The official announcement confirmed the specific details and investment scale of this cooperation plan. This large-scale data center project is seen as an important measure for South Korea to strengthen its artificial intelligence infrastructure construction and enhance its technological competitiveness.
