‘AI-Focused’ SK Group to Build Korea’s Largest Data Center with Amazon

[Korea Financial Times, Jeong Chaeyun] SK Group is joining forces with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to construct a massive artificial intelligence (AI) data center in the Ulsan Mipo National Industrial Complex. Amid intensifying global AI competition, SK Group aims to secure an edge in the AI race by establishing this data center through a strategic partnership with AWS.

According to industry sources, SK Group will hold a project launch event later this month, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony in August. The data center will target a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW), with plans to become the largest AI data center hub in Northeast Asia.

The facility, to be built by SK Telecom on a 36,000-square-meter site, will be the largest of its kind in Korea. It will feature 60,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), quadrupling the scale of the government’s planned ‘National AI Computing Center.’ While the national center aims to deploy 10,000 GPUs this year, the SK-AWS AI Data Center will be equipped with 60,000 GPUs.

The Ulsan Mipo area, chosen for the project, benefits from SK Gas’s LNG combined heat and power plant, ensuring a stable large-scale power supply essential for data center operations. SK Group is preparing for the project by fully mobilizing its internal resources, including plans to directly supply power to the AI data center via SK Multi Utility (SKMU), a subsidiary of SK Chemicals.

SK Telecom and SK Broadband will invest 3.4 trillion won (approx. $2.5 billion) in the project, while AWS is also expected to contribute several trillion won.

Long-term, SK Group and AWS intend to make this site the largest AI data center hub in Northeast Asia. SK Group has already been rebalancing its entire business portfolio around AI as a future growth engine since last year.

AWS, meanwhile, is accelerating global data center investments amid fierce AI competition and chose Ulsan for its strategic location and infrastructure advantages, partnering with Korea’s second-largest conglomerate for this landmark project.

Last month, Ulsan Mayor Kim Doo-gyeom held a press conference to announce the city’s bid for a special distributed zone, hinting at the AI data center project but withholding details. With the SK Group–AWS partnership now confirmed, the initiative is expected to gain further momentum. Mayor Kim stated, “Companies have begun securing land for the project, and discussions are underway with the world’s largest cloud provider”.

Jeong Chaeyun (chaeyun@fntimes.com)