SK Group is embarking on a massive investment of approximately 140 trillion won (approximately $91.5 billion) to transform South Korea’s Yeongnam region into Asia’s largest artificial intelligence infrastructure hub. The conglomerate has selected Ulsan as its first project site and, in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), has begun construction of a 100MW hyperscale AI data center (AIDC) targeting operation by the fourth quarter of next year.
Jung Jae-heon, President of SK Telecom, unveiled the Yeongnam investment plan on the 3rd at the “Yeongnam Advanced Industry Development Vision National Report” event held at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. The plan represents the first step in SK’s “Three Mega Projects for South Korea’s Great Leap Forward,” which aims to build a total of 15GW of AI data center infrastructure nationwide.
“While traditional data centers were warehouses for storing information, the new AI data center is a factory that produces AI intelligence,” President Jung explained. “By combining semiconductors and power into one, it creates intelligence in the form of ‘tokens,’ which become the core material for AI.” He added, “This factory is a high-value industrial asset that revolutionizes the world and a critical national security asset. The world is currently at war to secure this, and global companies are investing astronomical sums.”
SK has chosen Ulsan as the first project site to kick off the Yeongnam mega project. In collaboration with AWS, the company is currently building a 100MW hyperscale AIDC with a target operational date of Q4 2027. Plans call for an additional 900MW expansion in Ulsan to secure 1GW in a single location, with further phased development of over 1GW of data center capacity across the rest of the Yeongnam region, ultimately completing more than 2GW of total infrastructure within the region. This effort will involve approximately 140 trillion won in investment, including foreign capital.
According to the mid-to-long-term roadmap, SK plans to begin phased operation of the first-stage target of 5GW AIDC capacity starting in 2029. The project is expected to require approximately 750,000 pyeong of land — roughly the size of Seoul’s Yeouido district — along with 3 million GPUs and 24 million HBM chips, with total project costs projected to exceed 350 trillion won (approximately $228.7 billion). SK’s blueprint envisions eventually expanding nationwide infrastructure to 15GW.
“SK possesses all the core capabilities for AI data center infrastructure — semiconductors, energy solutions, and construction and operation expertise,” President Jung stated. “Just as the Gyeongbu Expressway once drove South Korea’s growth, we will build a new ‘AI Gyeongbu Expressway’ for the nation, starting from Yeongnam.” He further noted, “When the Yeongnam region’s manufacturing industry capabilities are combined with AI on the foundation of large-scale AIDCs, it can grow into a hub that not only achieves productivity innovation but also validates and disseminates manufacturing AI.”
Meanwhile, at the same event, the South Korean government announced plans to develop the Yeongnam region into the world’s top advanced manufacturing hub, surpassing its current number-one domestic ranking. To support gigawatt-scale mega AI data centers in areas like Ulsan, the government intends to focus support on developing high-performance, low-power semiconductors for data center servers. Additional candidate sites are reportedly under review with relevant government ministries.