Governor of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, Woo Sang-ho, has signed a business agreement with Donghae City and, South Korean conglomerate, GS to establish the Donghae AI Data Center. Set to be built on a 231,000 square meter parcel of land within the Bukpyeong 2 General Industrial Complex, the AI data center is expected to be operational by 2028 on the back of a KRW 30 trillion (US$ 19.9 billion) investment GS announced in June.
According to a press release issued by the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, the AI data center will initially have a capacity of 1.2 GW with an additional 1.2 GW expected to come online in 2029 for a total of 2.4 GW. GS will reportedly lean on its existing power infrastructure near the site of the data center which is running at 30 percent capacity due to delays in expanding transmission infrastructure.
“The AI Data Center is a core infrastructure of the AI industry and a growth foundation that will drive future industrial competitiveness. The Donghae AI Data Center campus will be Gangwon’s first AI industry project and the starting point for building an AI industry ecosystem,” said Woo.
“With the principle that companies focus on investment while the province takes responsibility for administration, we will provide active support at the pace companies require,” the governor added.
To that end, the governor noted that the province will fast-track permits for this and other projects around the data center, while also handling the provision of essential infrastructure including water and electricity.
The Donghae AI Data Center feeds South Korea’s drive to rank among the world’s top three AI powers, alongside the US and China, a push backed by a KRW 65 trillion (US$49 billion) private sector pledge toward AI development, announced in 2024 and running through 2027.
As w.media covered more recently, President Lee Jae-myung announced three megaprojects for the country involving semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI as the country looks to grow beyond regional capital and expand into other parts of the country. The megaprojects will include involvement from Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Naver, and GS Group, among many others.
By 2025, South Korea’s AI optimized data center market was worth US$ 580 million with Mordor Intelligence estimating that the market could balloon to a value of US$ 1.89 billion by 2030. However, that was before the Lee announced these megaprojects where AI data centers are expected to attract US$ 356 billion in investment alone.