SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest wireless telecommunication provider, has approved the establishment of a new subsidiary, SK Hyper, to develop its artificial intelligence data center (AIDC) business and plans to invest up to KRW 750 billion (US$ 500 million) in the company by 2030.
According to a press release, SK Hyper will be responsible for developing AI data center projects, including securing sites, building and operating substations, acquiring customers and commercializing the business. The company aims to support the development of 15GW of AI data center capacity over the medium to long term. It plans to open the first 5GW of capacity in 2029 before expanding to a total of 15GW by 2035, subject to market demand and other factors.
The decision was approved by the company’s board of directors and SK Telecom will retain full ownership of SK Hyper and provide capital in phases through 2030 within the approved investment limit. SK Hyper’s board also appointed Chung Suk-geun as the company’s first chief executive officer. Chung currently serves as head of SK Telecom’s AI Company-in-Company (AI CIC) and leads the company’s AIDC Integrated Development Division.
Chung Suk-geun, CEO, SK Hyper, said, “SK Hyper’s role is to turn SK Group’s blueprint for Asia’s AI Infrastructure Hub into reality, through systematic and rapid execution, we will secure core infrastructure and customers, and contribute to Korea’s advancement to AI G3.”
The new subsidiary is intended to accelerate the rollout of AI data centers as part of the South Korean government’s AI infrastructure plans. According to Mordor Intelligence, the South Korean data center market is projected to increase in value from US$ 1.99 billion in 2026 to US$ 5.02 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 20.38 percent.
The AIDC Integrated Development Division reports directly to its chief executive officer to oversee AI data center development across the SK Group. SK Telecom plans to begin with a gigawatt-scale AI data center cluster in Ulsan before expanding with additional gigawatt-scale facilities in the Chungcheong and Honam regions.