[Edaily Reporter Yun Junghoon ] SK Group is set to build a massive artificial intelligence data center (AIDC) infrastructure worth a total of 140 trillion won in the Yeongnam region. The group aims to lay a new foundation for domestic AI innovation by establishing a “factory” in the Yeongnam region that goes beyond the level of a simple information repository to produce “tokens”—the “intelligence” of the AI era.

Jeong Jae-heon, President of SKTelecom(017670), attended the “Public Briefing on the Vision for the Development of High-Tech Industries in the Yeongnam Region” held in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, on the 3rd and made a surprise announcement of the “SK AI Data Center Project” vision, which centers on these plans. At the event, attended by President Lee Jae-myung, SK presented the “Yeongnam Region AIDC Hub” as a key strategy for balanced national development and securing national security assets.

◇140 trillion won investment in the Yeongnam region alone… To become a “Manufacturing AI Demonstration Hub” centered on Ulsan

The first place where this massive AI heart will begin to beat is “Yeongnam.” SK has already designated Ulsan as its first project site and has begun construction on a 100MW data center in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), moving forward with the project at a rapid pace. SK plans to expand this facility by an additional 900MW to secure 1GW in Ulsan alone, and to gradually complete a total of 2GW+α of AI data centers across the entire Yeongnam region.

The total investment for this project, including foreign capital, amounts to 140 trillion won. SK’s vision is to combine the Yeongnam region’s strength—its robust manufacturing capabilities—with the ultra-high-speed computing power of large-scale AIDCs. The strategy goes beyond simply building infrastructure; it aims to transform the Yeongnam region into a global outpost for innovating the productivity of traditional manufacturing and for demonstrating and spreading “manufacturing AI.”

In his announcement that day, President Jeong opened by emphasizing the paradigm shift toward AIDCs. “While existing data centers were warehouses for storing information, the new AIDC is a factory that generates ‘token intelligence’ from artificial intelligence and serves as the core material for AI,” President Jeong said. He defined AIDCs as “high-value industrial assets that drive global innovation and serve as core national security assets, thanks to their immense computing power.”

He continued, “Countries and global corporations around the world are waging an all-out battle, pouring astronomical amounts of money into attracting and building AIDCs within their borders,” and declared, “SK, which possesses capabilities in semiconductors, energy solutions, and data center construction and operation, will make South Korea Asia’s largest AIDC infrastructure hub.”

◇350 trillion won to be invested in Phase 1 (5GW) construction… 3 million GPUs to be deployed on a site the size of Yeouido

According to the unveiled roadmap, SK’s AIDC project is the largest ever undertaken by a single company. As the first step toward achieving the ultimate goal of 15GW (gigawatts), the company will begin phased openings of a 5GW-scale AIDC starting in 2029.

This Phase 1 project far exceeds the scale of simply building a few data centers. The total investment alone is estimated at over 350 trillion won.

Spanning approximately 750,000 pyeong—equivalent to the entire area of Yeouido—this mega-project is the largest of its kind to date, incorporating 3 million GPUs (graphics processing units) and 24 million HBM (high-bandwidth memory) modules, which will serve as the “brain” of the artificial intelligence system. The estimated annual power consumption alone is 50 TWh (terawatt-hours), equivalent to the power consumption of five major South Korean metropolitan cities.

President Lee Jae-myung, who attended the briefing, strongly encouraged the large-scale regional investment plans of major companies, including SK, Hanwha (defense and aerospace), HyundaiMotor (automated factories), and Samsung (humanoids and batteries).

President Jeong Jae-heon stated, “In line with the full-scale support policies of the government and local authorities, we will vigorously build South Korea’s new ‘AI Gyeongbu Expressway’—just as the original Gyeongbu Expressway was built in the past—starting from the Yeongnam region.”