South Korean president Lee Jae Myung announced on Monday that the country would invest more than 1.43 quadrillion won ($919bn) into chip manufacturing, AI powered robotics, and data centers in order to “win the AI race.”
The government said that it was aiming to build 18.4GW of data centers in two phases, with 8.4GW worth by 2029 and 18.4GW worth by 2035. Development will be led by domestic conglomerates SK, GS, and Naver.
This first phase will see SK build 5GW of capacity, GS build 2.4GW, and Naver build 1GW at a total combined investment of approximately 550 trillion won ($352 billion).
This mostly repackages existing data center projects. Reports that GS was looking to build a pair of 1.2GW data centers in the cities of Donghae and Dangjin emerged last week; Naver announced plans to build its 1GW Sejong data center in November 2025; and SK is building a 1GW data center in Ulsan.
But the government did mention that SK was also reviewing additional data center sites in Daegu-Gyeongbuk, Honam, Gangwon, and the country’s central region.
The government said that all of these projects would break ground in H1 2028 and enter “phased operation” from 2029.
SK will then be responsible for building the additional 10GW of data center capacity between 2029 and 2035 depending on the “results of the first phase and market demand,” according to a press release from SK Telecom.
If successful, this would effectively multiply the country’s data center capacity sevenfold by 2035, based on estimates provided by real estate consultancy Savills that South Korea had 1.9GW worth of data centers in December 2024.
President Lee also said that chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix would invest 800 trillion won ($513bn) to build four memory fabs – two each – in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, as well as an additional 81 trillion won ($52bn) for HBM packaging fabs in the Chungcheong region.
The government said that it would provide support with site development, permitting, and construction for all projects.
“With the investment capacity of companies and government expanded by the semiconductor super-cycle and surplus tax revenue, South Korea holds broad competitiveness across the core elements of the AI ecosystem,” says the press release.
“As free trade fades and the multilateral, rules-based order wavers, a full-scale contest among nations unfolds over economic, industrial, and energy security. The best way to deal with an uncertain future is to make that future yourself.”