AWS & SK Group to Deliver US$5bn data centre in South Korea
South Korea’s SK Group has committed 7 trillion won (US$5.11bn) to construct a data centre in Ulsan in collaboration with AWS. The facility will house South Korea's first AWS AI Zone, scheduled to begin operations in 2027.
The partnership establishes a 15-year strategic agreement between SK Group, the country’s second-largest conglomerate, and AWS to expand cloud infrastructure capabilities within South Korea. The project is in addition to AWS’s planned US$5.88bn investment commitment in the country through 2027.
“When SK Group's technical capabilities combine with AWS’s AI cloud services, we'll empower customers of all sizes and across all industries here in Korea to build and innovate with safe, secure AI technologies,” says Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS.
“This partnership represents our commitment to Korea’s AI future, and I couldn't be more excited about what we'll achieve together.”
Creating a new data centre hub
SK Group will oversee data centre construction while AWS establishes the AI Zone infrastructure. The project consolidates resources from multiple SK Group affiliates including SK Telecom, SK Broadband, SK hynix, SK Gas, SK Chemicals, SK multi utility and SK AX, spanning the conglomerate's information and communications technology, energy, and semiconductor divisions.
The facility will feature AI-optimised computing systems, ultra-high-density rack configurations and hybrid cooling combining air and liquid cooling technologies. Likewise, its network infrastructure design prioritises stability and performance to meet global security standards.
Ulsan was selected based on SK Group’s existing gas supply network, energy solutions infrastructure and available industrial sites. The location provides submarine cable connectivity and regulatory support for industrial operations.
The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region has seen immense digital growth in recent years, with its data centre market expected to swell to US$150.59bn in line with dramatic AI growth.
It is also witnessing increased investment in secure, scalable data centre infrastructure driven by digital transformation initiatives. The data centre market in the region only continues to expand, as big tech organisations look to invest in the region.
AWS AI Zone to strengthen SK Group’s competitiveness
The Ulsan AI Zone will provide onshore infrastructure options for South Korean organisations developing AI applications.
AWS will deploy dedicated AI infrastructure including servers with semiconductor components, UltraCluster networks for AI training and inference and services including Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Bedrock.
The facility will also support SK Telecom’s AI Infrastructure Superhighway strategy announced in 2024, positioning SK Group to process AI workloads generated within South Korea domestically rather than routing through international facilities.
Through this, SK Group plans to enhance data sovereignty and strengthen its global competitiveness in AI.
The agreement also hopes to expand the existing SK Group and AWS alliance to include compute, storage, database and edge computing capabilities targeting the generative AI (Gen AI) market.
Both companies are planning additional collaborations to support customer demand for AI infrastructure.
The project aligns with South Korea’s national AI development objectives, providing local processing capabilities for AI workloads and applications. With this in mind, the facility will serve customers across industries requiring AI infrastructure within South Korean borders.
“We are pleased to combine the technological capabilities of SK Group with AWS, the world's leading cloud provider, to establish a core infrastructure for a Korean AI ecosystem and create a new engine for the 'AI highway,'” says Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group.
“Moving forward, SK will continue to build an AI data centre hub in the Asia-Pacific region by leveraging the strengths of each affiliate and our global partnerships.”
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