SK Group and Hanwha Group are launching large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure specialized in manufacturing and the defense industry, centered on the Yeongnam region. As a follow-up to the "Three Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward" announced by the government last month, the plan aims to develop the Yeongnam region, the nation's largest manufacturing hub, into a global AI outpost combining AI infrastructure and industrial sites.
Jung Jae-heon, president of SK Telecom, announced the Yeongnam investment plan at the "Yeongnam Advanced Industry Development Vision National Report Session" held in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday. The event was part of the "Three Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward" announced on Nov. 29, under which companies plan to execute a total of 312 trillion won in private investment in the Yeongnam region.
SK Group will invest 140 trillion won to build a 2-gigawatt (GW) AI data center (AIDC) in the Yeongnam region. "To establish Asia's largest AIDC infrastructure hub, we will open a 5GW AIDC in stages beginning in 2029 and expand it to 15GW in the next phase," Jung said.
SK Telecom has selected Ulsan as its first project site and is building a 100-megawatt (MW) AIDC with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The company plans to add 900MW in Ulsan and build data centers of more than 1GW in stages in the Yeongnam region outside Ulsan, completing a total of more than 2GW of AI infrastructure in Yeongnam. This will be combined with the region's manufacturing capabilities to develop the area into a hub for demonstrating and spreading "manufacturing AI." "If existing data centers were warehouses for storing information, the new AIDC is a factory that creates 'token intelligence' from AI," Jung said. "If Yeongnam's manufacturing industry capabilities are combined with AI, we can achieve productivity innovation."
Hanwha Group will invest more than 10 trillion won to begin building a defense AIDC centered on Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. The defense AIDC is a system in which AI analyzes information collected by satellites and supports its use by various forces, including aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. The Changwon defense AIDC will start at 45MW this year and expand to 135MW by 2032. Hanwha's plan is to build a closed, high-security data center that does not rely on external sources by combining its power generation assets and defense system operation capabilities.
Hanwha will also invest about 2 trillion won by 2040 to develop "Defense OS," a combat-specialized defense AI model. Defense OS is expected to provide AI services specialized for the Korean Peninsula operating environment and serve as a defense AI platform that connects ground, maritime, air and space forces into one. "By 2032, we will invest more than 10 trillion won in building a defense-dedicated AIDC in Changwon and possess world-class defense AI," said Kim Dong-kwan, vice chairman of Hanwha Group.
