South Korea Telecom (SKT) plans to build AI data center capacity with the potential to scale up to 15 GW to establish South Korea as a large-scale AI infrastructure hub in Asia. The plan is being aligned with South Korean government’s “AI G3” strategy and regional development policy, with site selection, power supply, and operations under review.
According to a company press release, the first phase centers will concentrate on an AI data center in Ulsan. SKT plans to build a 2GW data center cluster across the southeastern Gyeongsang region and an additional 1GW in the southwestern Jeolla region. The total domestic capacity is expected to reach 5GW, with phased openings scheduled for 2029 and eventual expansion towards 15GW.
SKT estimates that building a 1 GW-class AI data center could cost KRW 70 trillion (US$ 45.6 billion), driven by compute hardware requirements and higher memory prices. Funding is expected to combine internal investment, strategic partners, long-term customer contracts, and project financing.
The investment is aimed at expanding domestic AI computing capacity as demand for model training, inference increase and high-performance computing (HPC) becomes a key factor in national competitiveness. SK Group will coordinate semiconductor, energy, and construction capabilities across affiliates while SKT will lead design, construction, and operations.
Jung Jai-hun, President and CEO, SKT, said, “This AI data center project is aimed at preemptively preparing the computing infrastructure that the global AI ecosystem needs. We will work closely with the government, industry, and local communities to help Korea grow into Asia’s core AI infrastructure hub.”
South Korea is being considered for AI data center investment due to strengths in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), stable power supply from nuclear and LNG generation, and experience operating large-scale semiconductor fabrication facilities.
SK Telecom also plans to operate an “AI Factory,” a next-generation AI data center model, starting in 2027. The company compared the initiative to past national infrastructure projects such as the Gyeongbu Expressway and early broadband rollout in 1998.