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Korea’s SK Group and Amazon to Invest $5 Billion in Nation’s Largest AI Data Centre

South Korea’s SK Group announced a $5.11 billion investment plan, including $4 billion from Amazon Web Services (AWS), to build the country’s largest data centre in Ulsan, the Science Ministry confirmed Friday. Construction will begin in September, with full operations expected by 2029, featuring a capacity of 100 megawatts.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won expressed ambitions to expand the facility to one gigawatt eventually, aiming to position it as a global hub to meet domestic AI demands. President Lee Jae Myung, present at the announcement alongside tech industry leaders, emphasized AI’s critical role in South Korea’s growth and praised the project for spreading high-tech industry development beyond the metropolitan areas into provincial regions.

Following the announcement, South Korean AI-related stocks surged, with SK Hynix rising over 3%, Kakao jumping 11%, and LG CNS gaining 9%, helping the KOSPI index surpass 3,000 points for the first time in over three years.

The investment confirms earlier media reports this month about SK Group and AWS’s plans to build a major data centre in South Korea.

SK Group Chairman Chey Apologizes for Major SK Telecom Data Breach, Pledges Security Overhaul

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won issued a public apology on Wednesday following a significant data breach at SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, which has sparked alarm among its 23 million users over potential theft of personal and financial information.

The breach, detected on April 18, was attributed to a malware attack, and has led to widespread concern and customer action. Thousands have visited SK Telecom outlets to replace their USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) cards, which the company is offering free of charge.

Chey, speaking for the first time since the breach became public, said, I believe we need to look at this as a matter of national defence, not just (data) security.” He acknowledged a need for a more comprehensive and strategic approach to cybersecurity, noting that the company previously treated such threats as a standard IT issue handled internally.

In response to the breach, SK Telecom has launched a USIM Protection Service, which it says provides equivalent protection to replacing the USIM card. Chey confirmed he enrolled in the service but had not yet replaced his own card.

The chairman also pledged a full-scale security review involving external cybersecurity experts to prevent similar incidents in the future and restore public trust in the company’s data protection capabilities.